


Secrets That Kill

by FloofeyMarshmallow



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003)
Genre: Bulimia, Eating Disorders, Purging, induced vomiting, probably inaccurate medical procedures, self starvation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-08 01:46:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4285929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FloofeyMarshmallow/pseuds/FloofeyMarshmallow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edward's playing a dangerous game. The only problem - he doesn't seem to think there's a problem with this not-so-new behavior. Will someone be able to help him before it's too late?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh god, I apologize in advance for the possibly inaccurate medical information. I'm doing as much research on Bulimia as possible, but the eating disorder I know the most about is anorexia. I'm hoping to expand my knowledge in writing this!

**To calculate the amount of cenz to use - because it's never said how much it's worth in my currency - I used the Hong Kong dollar amount. The Hong Kong dollar amount for 116.29 is approximately 15 dollars.**

Ed walked into the convenient store late at night. He always went to the store late at night, and he was pretty sure his brother knew he was up to no good. Luckily for him, Alphonse was at the Hughes' house babysitting Elysia while Hughes and Gracia were out on a date night.

He walked through the store, eventually finding several items he had been looking for. Edward grabbed an assortment of foods: chocolate bars, gummy worms, donuts, cookies, brownies, muffins, everything he could fit into his hands and carry to the register.

"You having a party or something?" the cashier asked as he rang it up.

"Or something." Edward rolled his eyes. These people did nothing but pry into his personal business. What did it matter if he was having a party or not?

"116.29 cenz," the cashier said when the receipt finished printing.

"Got it." Ed dug into his pocket and pulled out the amount of money and paying for his items. Once he paid, Edward walked outside the store and headed straight to the alley beside the store.

He shoveled the food into his mouth. Ed didn't even care that he made a mess all over himself and all over the place. He was eating the food at an enormous rate and just couldn't stop. It wouldn't end. He was losing control.

Once the food had disappeared into Edward's mouth, it came out just as fast through his purging. Ed used his flesh finger to do the work - he hated cleaning chunks out of his automail. Once it was finished, he threw the trash in a nearby dumpster and headed toward Hughes' house.

* * *

"Brother, where have you been?" Alphonse asked when Edward finally returned to the Hughes household.

Ed didn't know why he did what he did, but he had been doing it for years. He knew it wasn't something people normally did, so he had to keep it a secret.

It started when Nina died three years prior. He had vomited at her exploded corpse and immediately felt a sense of relief. It was the first bit of relief that he was granted in a long time.

After that incident, it was something Ed kept up. He found it was better to throw up if he ate everything in sight first. It also made staying fit easier because he wasn't eating more calories than he burned, but that was not his ultimate goal - just a perk.

"I told you I had to pick something up," Ed fibbed, throwing himself onto the bed he was given at the Hughes household. They had been staying with the Hughes' for a week now, and Edward was given a bed years ago when he was thirteen. Al was given one too, but he just used it as a place to sit and read while waiting for Edward to wake.

"What did you pick up?" Al asked. Ed knew his brother was beginning to get suspicious at him leaving during the nights.

"Just some work stuff from Mustang," Edward fibbed once again. He hoped Alphonse wouldn't decide to check out that resource and find out it was a lie. Or even question what Mustang would be giving Edward so late at night.

"...All right, brother," Al said, deciding to give up on the suspicion for the time being. "I already put Elysia down for bed and Mr. Hughes called. He said they should be back in an hour or so."

"I'll be knocked out by then," Ed said. Puking his guts up always made him exhausted.

"All right, brother," Alphonse said with a hollow sigh. "Go to sleep; I'll be right here."

_Yep_ , Ed thought to himself. _You'll be right there waiting to catch me in the act._

* * *

Edward didn't wake until late the next afternoon. While he loved the relief he found from doing what he did, he hated how it made him sleep forever.

"Are you getting sick, brother?" Alphonse asked from beside the bed. He couldn't help but notice that his brother looked very pale and clammy. Like he might have a fever.

"No," Ed said quickly. He knew why he was like this; he had been all clammy like this before when he would purge. It just meant he needed to eat something and digest it. "I'll get some breakfast and be fine, Al; I promise."

"Breakfast?" Alphonse asked. "More like lunch, brother."

"Oh," Edward said. "Well, I'll get some lunch and be fine. Wanna spar after?"

"Only if you really start to look better after eating," Al answered.

"I'll be fine." Edward walked downstairs to the kitchen, seeing that there was already a sandwich beside a note that said, _Edward_. Gracia was always doing stuff like this.

After eating, Ed looked in the mirror and thought he looked a little better. He put the dishes in the sink and sought out his younger brother.

"Al!" Ed called. "Hey, Al!"

There was no answer.

"Al?" Edward asked as he walked into his bedroom where he last saw the suit of armor. Alphonse was still sitting on the bed where he left him.

"Don't you wanna spar?" Ed asked.

"You're sick, brother," Alphonse said.

"No I'm not," Ed responded. "I told you I'm not sick."

"You look awful, brother!" Al exclaimed. "You're all pale and sweaty!"

"I'm not pale; I just want to spar!" Edward shouted back.

"What's going on in here?" Hughes asked as he walked in the room.

"Brother won't admit that he's getting sick," Alphonse explained to the man.

"I'm _not_  sick," Ed said, directed more toward Alphonse than Hughes.

"I have a thermometer if you wanna prove it, Ed," Hughes said. "You do look a little pale."

"Get the thermometer; I'll prove it," Edward said with a glare. He was confident he wouldn't set off any alarms by having his temperature taken.

Hughes walked out of the room, retrieving the thermometer from the bathroom cabinet before returning to the brothers' room. He held out the thermometer to the eldest Elric.

"Thank you," Ed said, sticking the wrapped tip under his tongue. Hughes grabbed it from his mouth when the thing was finished, disposing of the wrap that was around the tip while he read the thing.

"Edward, you have a fever," Hughes said. "You're 102. If it gets any higher, we gotta go to the doctor."

"No!" Edward shouted. The last thing he wanted was a doctor in his business.

"Well, until then, we gotta make sure you don't get to that point," Hughes said. "Get out of those ridiculous clothes. A coat and gloves with leather pants are _not_  going to keep you cool."

"Fine, I'll get into some sweats or something," Ed said.

"Boxers, Ed," Hughes instructed. "You gotta wear light clothing if you want this to go down."

"Fine, I'll wear boxers then," Edward said. "Just go."

Hughes walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Ed removed his heavy clothing, wearing a t-shirt and boxers.

"Brother, what's that?" Alphonse asked, motioning to Edward's flesh hand. While it was normally covered with his gloves, this time it wasn't, and brought teeth marks and scabs to the surface.

"Huh?" Ed looked down at his hand before pushing it behind his back to hide it. "Oh, that's nothing. Sometimes my automail pinches at my other hand and it just makes marks."

"I could have sworn that looked like teeth marks..." Al said.

"Probably just a coincidence," Edward said. "I'm gonna sleep. Gotta rest out the fever, right?"

"...Right."

* * *

Ed groaned when he awoke. He could see through the window in the bedroom that it was dark outside. He had slept far too long for his liking - all day.

Alphonse noticed that his older brother was awake; immediately going to the side of the bed.

"Are you all right, brother?" Al asked. "Do you need anything? I can get you some water if your throat hurts."

"Why would my throat hurt?" Edward asked, but he did notice that it was aching a bit and his voice sounded a little raspy.

"You kept saying that your throat hurt in your sleep," Alphonse said. "So I thought you might want some water when you woke up."

"How long was I asleep?" Ed asked.

"All of yesterday and today," Alphonse answered. "Mr. Hughes said that it was your fever that kept you asleep. If you didn't wake up by tomorrow morning we were gonna take you to the hospital."

"No hospitals," Ed said.

"I know, brother," Al responded, and if he could, Edward just knew he would be smiling. "So; water?"

"Sure," Edward said. Alphonse left the room, returning with a cup of water. Ed practically chugged it. The youngest Elric then revealed that he had returned with the thermometer as well. "Oh, come on."

"I just want to see if your fever broke," Al said. "You know I can't tell..."

Ed felt guilty at this. He groaned.

"Fine."

Taking the temperature was quick. Once again, Edward didn't get to read his own temperature, having the thing taken by whoever was in the room.

"98.9, brother," Alphonse announced. "You're back to normal!"

"Cool," Ed said. "Does that mean we can spar in the morning?"

"I don't know, brother..." Al trailed off. "Oh, the colonel wants to see you in his office tomorrow. Well, he said as soon as you were better. I think he's got a mission for you."

"Awesome." Edward grinned. "Now I don't wanna go back to sleep."

"You probably should, brother," Alphonse suggested. "You wouldn't want to be tired when the colonel gives you your mission, would you?"

"All right, all right; you have a point," Ed said with a roll of the eyes. "I hate it when you make sense."

"Just call me Jiminy Cricket."

"Harr harr." 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Possibly inaccurate medical information. I tried really hard to do my research.

Chapter Two

Alphonse woke Edward early in the morning. His brother had already gotten plenty of sleep and needed to get to Central headquarters to see the colonel if he wanted to get that mission.

"Brother..." Al trailed off, gently shaking the elder. He was never sure if it was too hard or not. He had been getting used to it for the past couple of years, but lately there had been bruises appearing on Ed's arms where his younger brother squeezed. It made Alphonse feel terribly guilty when Edward said it wasn't his fault. Al was sure his brother was just saying this to make him feel better. "Come on, brother, wake up."

"'M up," Ed groaned out, rolling out of bed. He nearly hit the floor, catching himself at the last second. He then stood beside the bed. "Shower."

"Breakfast?" Alphonse asked. Edward shook his head no, walking the the bathroom. This was nothing suspicious; their entire lives, the elder Elric had never felt hungry first thing in the morning. It was always about an hour after he woke that he would get ravenous.

About an hour later, Edward walked out of the bathroom fully dressed. Al also noticed that his brother was wearing his gloves once again. The youngest Elric was worried about those scabs on Ed's hands.

"Ready to go?" Alphonse asked.

"Actually, I think you should stay here," Ed said.

"Why?"

"I just think I can pick up a mission by myself." The blonde teen shrugged as he said this. It was suspicious to Alphonse.

"Brother, you're not..." Al trailed off. "You're not...sleeping with the colonel or anything, are you?"

"WHAT?!" Ed's golden eyes bugged out of his head. "Are you crazy?! Mustang's a billion years old, and I'm not gay!"

"Okay, okay; it was just a question," Alphonse said. "But...are you okay? You've been acting weird for a while..."

"I'm fine," Edward responded. "I just need some space. Sometimes people like to be alone for a while, and this just happens to be one of those times."

"All right..." Al trailed off. "I'll see you soon?"

"I'll call you after I deal with Mustang at headquarters."

"Thanks, brother."

* * *

 

Edward walked into headquarters with a slight headache. His lack of eating always caused him to be grumpy and get headaches. Hell, the only time he really did eat was right before he threw it up.

"You're in a foul mood today," Mustang commented when Ed walked into his office.

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you haven't been giving me anything to do," Ed responded with a roll of the eyes. "You got a mission for me or not?"

"I might have an inspection or something you can tag along for," Mustang said. "Not really a mission or anything. You accompany Hughes to a crime scene and you can pretty much head straight to the library until I need you to fill out some paperwork."

"Well, when are you gonna need me to fill out paperwork?" Edward asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Mustang answered. "Have Hughes bring you to work with him and you can get started on it then. We always show up at the same time."

"Weird," Ed commented. "Where's this crime scene?"

"I'll have Havoc drive you," Mustang said. Usually whenever Edward needed to be taken somewhere, Havoc was the driver that was assigned to him. Ed didn't mind - Havoc was actually a pretty cool guy. It was just awkward with the two of them by themselves.

"Sure," Ed said. He walked out of the office, the colonel following behind him. Once the two were both out of the office, Mustang looked to where Havoc was sitting, filling out paperwork.

"Havoc, Fullmetal needs a ride to the crime scene that Hughes is working on. You're the driver," Mustang ordered. This was not uncommon, so Havoc just nodded, standing from his desk.

"Let's head out of here, kid," Havoc said, leading Ed to the car that they would be using.

As expected, it was awkward when they first got into the car. Edward sat in the passenger seat - he usually sat in the backseat whenever Alphonse was with him, but when it was just him and Havoc, Ed preferred the passenger seat. Havoc also liked this, feeling less like a chauffeur this way.

"You know, chief, you've been getting kinda...thin lately," Havoc commented during the drive.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ed asked.

"You just look like you're getting a little skinny is all," Havoc said.

"I'm a healthy weight," Edward responded. "I've just been sparring a little more than usual with Alphonse and I've been gaining more muscle."

"But your cheeks are always gonna be chubby, right?" Havoc asked.

"Oh, shut up."

When they pulled up to the crime scene, Ed was already feeling light headed. He knew this meant that he needed to eat something and keep it down, but he figured it would be fine. He had a sandwich and it stayed in. His body would just have to deal for a little while longer.

"Chief?" Havoc asked when Edward's body swayed as he stepped out of the car. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Ed fibbed. "You can go back to headquarters and tell Mustang that I made it without getting kidnapped."

"Sure, but you go straight to Hughes, all right?" Havoc just wanted the kid within distance of someone that they knew and trusted. That way in case something happened, the kid would be taken care of.

"All right." Havoc drove away when Edward started walking in the direction of Hughes.

"Hey, Edward!" Hughes exclaimed when he noticed Ed beginning to walk over. Edward was just wondering how the investigation officer could be so cheery at a crime scene when he lost his vision.

"Hugh..."

* * *

 

Edward groaned when he woke up to an annoying beeping sound. He didn't want to open his eyes to reveal a hospital. Anything but a hospital. He opened his eyes.

A mother fucking hospital.

"Brother!" Alphonse exclaimed from beside the bed Ed was laying in. Hughes was standing there with a doctor as well.

"Thank god you're okay," Hughes said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"You gave us quite the scare, Mr. Elric," the doctor said.

"What am I doing here?" Ed asked.

"You fainted at the crime scene," Hughes answered. "You didn't even see the body either."

"When your legal guardian arrives, I can explain in depth what's wrong and the treatment methods we'll be administering before you leave," the doctor explained.

"W-What?" Edward began to panic. "Treatment? What's wrong with me? Tell me now, please!"

"I'm sorry, we have to wait for-" the doctor was interrupted by Mustang walking through the door.

"What the hell could have happened on a ride to a crime scene?" Mustang asked when he walked in the room.

"Are you Roy Mustang?" the doctor asked. Mustang nodded. "All right, then we can proceed.

"Edward here has electrolyte imbalances, which we're currently treating with an IV of Saline. His blood pressure is also rather low, which we'd like to see raised a bit," the doctor explained.

"How did he get electrolyte imbalances?" Hughes asked.

"We believe it could be from severe dehydration," the doctor said.

"He was sick not too long ago," Alphonse mentioned. "Could he be dehydrated from that?"

"It's completely possible," the doctor answered.

"How do we raise his blood pressure?" Mustang asked this time.

"Well, it's like treating a diabetic, but opposite," the doctor said. "Instead of restricting the foods that are high in sugar, we would raise them. Basically, Edward needs to eat more junk food."

"Hell yeah," Ed said with a grin, though he was internally screaming.

"Of course a teenager would love something like that," Mustang said with a roll of the eyes. "When does he get to be released?"

"We're going to keep him here for a few days to balance his electrolytes," the doctor answered. "We're also going to try to raise his blood pressure a bit before he leaves, but that's not something he needs to be here for."

"So I just gotta sit here with an IV..." Ed trailed off, finally noticing the IV that was placed in his left hand. "IV..."

"Brother, please don't panic," Alphonse said. He placed a hand over his brother's automail hand, trying to keep him from ripping the IV out. "Just pretend it's not there. You were doing a great job before."

"It's not there..." Edward trailed off once again. He was trying to calm himself down without his brother's words, but the words of encouragement were actually doing wonders for the panic attack he had brooding inside of him.

"We'll see how he is in two days," the doctor said.

A few hours later, Ed was sitting in the hospital bed bored out of his mind while Mustang was sitting beside the bed doing paperwork in a chair.

"Why are you here?" Edward asked.

"Because someone had to make sure you didn't rip that needle out of your hand," Mustang responded as he signed his name for the millionth time.

"It's not there," Ed reminded himself.

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Why did Al have to leave?" the blonde asked. Alphonse would have been able to keep him calm while having a needle in his hand.

"He had to go babysit Elysia for a while," Mustang answered. "Something about Gracia having a yoga class or something." The nurse then walked in, wheeling a plate of food into the room and in front of Edward's bed."Look at that, something to help get your strength up."

"Yep, a nice sandwich with a side of applesauce and gum drops," the nurse said. "Also, a glass of cranberry juice because you don't like milk."

"Thanks," Ed thanked, resisting the urge to mumble at all the high calorie food he would be eating. Mustang was watching - he had to eat it. Besides, it was his only way out of the hospital. The nurse checked his IV of Saline before leaving the room.

"Eat up so we can get the hell out of here," Mustang ordered. Edward did as he was told. He took a bite of the sandwich, chewing six times like he had trained himself every time he would eat something. It kept him from eating too much.

Ed ate the entire plate. He felt incredibly guilty after doing so, but he couldn't let Mustang see him like this. He also couldn't get away to throw it up or someone would hear. It was difficult to get away with things like this in a hospital.

When he was finished, Edward pushed the tray away from him, resting back onto the hospital bed. He grabbed the blanket - which wasn't even really soft enough to be defined as a blanket - and pulled it over his head.

"Are you all right?" Mustang asked, briefly looking over his paperwork to make sure his charge was still functional.

"'M fine, just tired," Ed fibbed. He figured that the colonel wouldn't be too interested to check on that. He was right; Mustang didn't ask anything anymore.

Soon enough, Edward had fallen asleep. He didn't have the energy to keep himself awake if he wasn't constantly moving. The colonel looked over to him and sighed softly.

"Just what aren't you telling us, Fullmetal?"


	3. Chapter 3

After a few days, Edward was finally released from the hospital. The doctor had given Hughes and Mustang instructions that the teen needed to be on a strict diet in order to stabilize his electrolytes and keep his blood sugar up. This meant that Hughes was ordering Edward to eat at every family meal and having Gracia bring meals to him when Ed wasn't at work with Hughes and Mustang.

Finally, Ed was called on a mission that actually meant something.

"We're thinking that an alchemist is responsible for the recent murders that have been going on," Mustang explained at the briefing.

"Isn't this supposed to be Hughes' case?" Edward asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"It is, but since it's an alchemist, he'll be needing a hand. That's where you and I come in," Mustang answered. "You and I will be going undercover to catch him in a suburban area. Hawkeye will be there as well, of course."

"And how exactly are three military officers going to go undercover in a suburban area without being inconspicuous?" Ed asked. "It's not like we all blend in or anything."

"We'll be posing as a family," Hawkeye interrupted.

"Are you kidding me?!" Edward shouted. "I can't do that!"

"You're going to have to," Mustang said. "It's our orders."

"But what the hell is Hughes going to do? It's his case!"

"He'll be helping us from the sidelines. He's an investigations officer, which means that he has a desk job," Mustang explained. "It isn't his job to be in the field like us. We didn't ask for that."

"I don't mind being in the field," Edward said. "What I mind is pretending to be in a family with _you_."

"Don't worry, Edward, it won't be just you; I'll be there as well," Riza interrupted. "I'll be sure to diffuse any situation that arises between you two."

"Fan-freaking-tastic," the teen said with a roll of the eyes.

"Get packed, we're leaving tonight. We want to make it there by morning so that we have a chance to set up," Mustang ordered.

"Yeah, yeah," Edward said. He turned to walk out of the room, being interrupted by Mustang's voice once again.

"Oh, and Fullmetal," the colonel interrupted. "You can't bring your brother."

That was the least of Ed's worries.

* * *

 

"Are you sure I can't come along?" Alphonse asked as Edward packed his clothing for the mission.

"I'm sure, Al," Ed said. "We're supposed to be undercover, and it's a little inconspicuous with a suit of armor walking around." He almost regretted saying it. His little brother was sensitive about his appearance now - something he had never worried about before their mother died.

"I'm sorry, brother..." Alphonse trailed off. "I can't tag along on missions because of my appearance..."

"Don't apologize, Al; we all know who's fault it is," Edward said quietly. "Besides, the military only has me on it's leash. Not you; you're safe."

"Yeah..."

"I'll be back before you know it, Al," Ed said, placing a hand on the armor as a way of saying goodbye before Hughes walked into the room.

"Are you all ready to go, Ed?" the man asked.

"Yeah,"" Ed answered. Mustang and Hawkeye would be there to pick them up any minute.

"I know it's rough for you to leave your brother, but he'll be okay here," Hughes said.

That wasn't the problem. Sure, Edward was a little peeved at having to leave his little brother behind when he clearly wanted to come an help. The real problem was that he wouldn't be able to get away with doing what he did while being around Mustang and Hawkeye. Sure, he managed to get away with it with Hughes and his family, but that was different. They weren't hounding on him every minute, and he actually got the chance to leave to go to the store and eat practically everything before doing what he wanted to do.

In the suburbs, the stores were so far. He wouldn't be able to get to a store any time he needed to do his thing.

"Yeah," Ed said, not leaving much room for anything else to be said. Hawkeye and Mustang showed up soon enough.

Hughes and Edward sat in the backseat of the car while Mustang sat in the passenger seat and Hawkeye drove. It was a four hour drive to get to the place they would be staying at. Ed wanted to argue with how a murderer could murder someone four hours away from where they lived, but he was too tired to do anything anymore. Thankfully, he fell asleep sometime in the drive.

* * *

 

"Ed," Hughes said as he gently shook Edward awake. "You gotta eat something; doctor's orders."

"Eat something?" the teen asked as he wiped the sleep out of his eyes. He saw that they were sitting in the parking lot of some fast food restaurant. It was just what Edward needed. "Sure."

"You can get whatever you want, kid," Hughes said, walking inside of the restaurant with Roy and Riza.

Edward took full advantage of the fact that he was known to have a 'bottomless pit' as a stomach. He ordered everything he could off of the menu without being suspicious. He was quick to eat everything.

"Well, this is the first time I've been able to see the famous bottomless pit of a stomach," Roy commented with wide eyes when Edward walked off saying he needed the bathroom.

"He actually hasn't been inhaling food lately," Hughes responded. "Since he got out of the hospital, he's been eating like a mouse."

"Really?" Riza asked. "According to Havoc, Edward has a bottomless pit of a stomach. Even Alphonse says that Edward's appetite cannot be tamed."

Hughes shrugged.

"Well, I'll head to the bathroom before we get out of here too," Mustang said, standing from the table. He walked to the bathroom and went straight to a urinal. What distracted him, though, was the retching that he heard from one of the stalls. He stayed silent.

Edward then walked out of a stall, looking particularly pale. He walked straight to a sink and began to rinse his face and wash his hands.

"Fullmetal?" Mustang asked, his eyebrows furrowing. "Were you throwing up?"

"It doesn't matter," Ed said from the sink.

"It _does_  matter," Mustang argued. "Are you sick?"

"No, I'm not sick," Edward answered. "I think I just ate too much or something," the kid fibbed. Anything to get the colonel to leave him alone.

"...Well, don't eat so much in the future," Mustang said just before the teenager stormed out of the bathroom. While the man briefly wondered why the kid would get sick after eating so much while being nicknamed the 'bottomless pit', he didn't think too much on it. He didn't put the connection with Ed recently being in the hospital to the vomiting in the bathroom after eating. He finished up and headed out toward the others.

"Okay, so I'll see you guys at the hideout?" Hughes asked when they were exiting the restaurant.

"Wait, you're not coming with us?" Ed asked.

"It would be a little suspicious for a family to move in with two men," Hughes said. "I'm heading to the safe house we picked out and you guys can see me there when we have meetings."

"You expect me to sit in a car with Mustang for a couple more hours without you?" Edward asked. Hughes and Hawkeye shared a laugh.

"Don't worry, Ed, Hawkeye's gonna be there with you," Hughes said, waving to the three of them before getting into a car that Edward didn't notice was waiting there for the investigation officer.

Ed groaned, getting into the backseat of the car and staring out the window. He was wide awake after having that nap earlier, so now he was just sitting and waiting to arrive to the destination that he didn't know how long it would take to reach.

The teen was grateful when Mustang didn't mention his vomiting spell earlier to Hawkeye. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but that didn't mean he wanted to stop or anything. No, Edward would continue what he was doing until he didn't need it anymore.

Mustang did worry about the kid, but he knew that Ed wasn't dumb enough to purposefully throw up everything he had eaten. After all, he was a prodigy. He did glance back at the boy often, though. The kid's stubborn cheeks just weren't getting rid of the baby fat in his face. Little did anyone know, Edward's cheeks weren't chubby because of baby fat.

They were swollen because of his vomiting.

* * *

 

"Welcome to the house we'll be staying in until we catch this murderer," Mustang spoke in monotone, waving a hand at the simple two story house. It was a two story home with three bedrooms with a bathroom in each room, as well as a guest bathroom on the first floor.

"Your names are on the door of the rooms you'll be staying in," Riza said. "We'll have to keep up appearances, so the room that the room labels will be removed once you find them. The colonel and I are intended to be acting as a married couple, so his room appears to be set for two people while the room I'll be staying in is intended to appear as a guest room."

"And my room looks like some stupid teenagers room?" Ed asked.

"Well, we weren't in charge of the decor. The house was rented on a military salary. All the furniture is being rented as well," Riza answered.

"Great," the teen grumbled. He walked through the house with the adults, briefly looking at the rooms. "It looks okay, I guess," Edward said in regard to his bedroom after visiting it.

"Not too many skin mags in there, huh?" Mustang joked.

"Colonel," Riza scolded.

"Also, we can't call each other by military names," Mustang said. "Riza, you'll call me Roy, I'll call you Riza, and we have to call Edward by his name."

"Ed."

"What?"

"Call me Ed," the blonde teenager said with a roll of the eyes. "It's a lot better than 'Edward'."

"Fine," Mustang said. "We'll call Fullmetal 'Ed'."

"I'll continue calling you Edward, Edward," Riza said, with a face that seemed to mean business. Ed nodded. He didn't mind her calling him by his full name so much. "And you don't have to call us 'mom' or 'dad' here. Just in public for appearances."

"Great, I have parents again." Edward rolled his eyes again.

"Can you stop doing that?" Mustang growled. "Every time you roll your eyes, I imagine them rolling out of your head, and you do it a lot."

"Oh, you mean like this?" Ed rolled his eyes to aggravate the man.

"Both of you, quit it," Riza ordered. "Edward, you and I will be enrolling you into the local school tomorrow."

"What?" Ed asked with wide eyes. "Why?"

"The suspect is a teacher. You'll be taking a wrestling class with him," Mustang answered. "Buckle up, kid, you're going to a public school."

* * *

 

"Why the _fuck_  are we here?" Ed asked while sitting in a school lobby, an automail arm trying to cover his face. He felt completely humiliated at being at a school like this.

"Watch your language; we're in public," Mustang snapped. "It's not like this was my idea or anything. Riza suggested it."

Edward's head whipped to the blonde woman with an expression of betrayal.

"I'm sorry, Edward; we need to keep up appearances while we're undercover," Riza said.

"You guys are gonna kill me." Ed groaned.

"Mr. and Mrs. Wilson; it's nice to meet you," a lady greeted. Edward really wanted to groan over the fact that she was wearing a navy blue pantsuit with lipstick smeared on her teeth. "And this must be Edward."

"Yes, this is our Edward," Riza said. It was better for her to talk, anyway. Mustang and Ed were on the verge of gagging at the family facade.

"I'm glad we're going to have such a gifted student attend our school," the lady - her name-tag said Crooms - said with a sickening smile. She began to lead the three of them to her office.

"What does she mean, _gifted student_?!" Edward whisper-panicked.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Mustang responded in the same tone. He hadn't planned this part - it had all been Hughes and Hawkeye.

Eventually they were all seated in the office. Ed kept staring at a piece of wallpaper that was peeling in the corner of the room.

"We already received the transcripts and class requests," Crooms said. "Are you sure that he'd like to take wrestling as a sport? It may be an unfair advantage with the automail limbs." Of course she could see his automail; Hawkeye had _insisted_  that he wear short sleeves.

"It won't be an advantage," Mustang interrupted. "If anything, it would be a disadvantage with the added weight he would need to move around." Ed wanted to challenge Mustang to that, but bit his tongue. He knew the colonel was just trying to get him into the class for the investigation.

"Well, if you say so; we'll allow him in the class," Crooms said. "Though, if there are any issues with this decision, we may ask that he leave the class and choose a different one."

"When that time comes, we'll deal with it," Riza said.

"Well then, I think that's all we have to do today." Crooms smiled widely to the blonde teen. "I hope you'll enjoy our school. Tomorrow morning when you come in, someone will be waiting at the front of the school to greet you. Don't worry, they'll know who you are."

_Great, so I just wait for someone to walk up to me and probably attack them thinking they're gonna kill me_ , Ed thought to himself.

"Let's go, Edward," Riza said, standing from her chair. The three of them said their farewells to Crooms and left the school building and got in the car to their next destination.

The grocery store.


	4. Chapter 4

Edward gulped when Riza parked in the parking lot of the grocery store. The only reason he ever went to the store for food was when he needed to do his thing. Now he would have to go through the store without being able to do it.

"Hey, Hawkeye?" Ed asked when they walked into the store.

"What?" Riza didn't chastise Edward for calling her by her name in public. She didn't think that anyone heard.

"Is it all right if I wander a bit?" The teen was really shocked when the woman nodded slightly.

"We'll be in the produce section for a bit," Riza said. "The store isn't that big, so it shouldn't bee too hard to find us."

"Thanks." Edward practically jumped at the opportunity to get away from the military officers. He walked toward a part of the store he knew they wouldn't go to - the dessert isle. Also the type of food he happened to prefer eating when he got like this.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to do this for a while, Ed grabbed food hastily and shoved it in the pockets of his coat. He knew he didn't have much time, and there were so many people who could be witnesses. He also usually paid for the items, but he wouldn't be able to this time without Hawkeye and Mustang catching on. The colonel already knew too much.

Edward rushed to the bathroom, going into the first stall he saw and shoveling the food into his mouth. He was ripping open packages with his automail fingers, shoving the food into his mouth as quickly as he could. He could have sworn he had even eaten a bit of paper, but it didn't matter. It wouldn't stay in very long.

Just as quickly as the food was shoved into his mouth, it was forced out by the two flesh fingers that made their way to the back of his throat.

The purging lasted a good three minutes. Ed walked out of the stall after throwing the packaging into the stall's small trash bin. He was suddenly stopped by the colonel standing in the bathroom.

"I heard you," was all the raven haired man said.

"Good for you,' the teen said, moving to the sink and washing his hands and mouth.

"Either you're still sick or this is a bigger problem," Mustang said. "Should I regret not mentioning this to Hawkeye and Hughes?"

"I was just a little carsick from the ride over," Ed fibbed. "I never really drove around in cars when I lived in the country."

"Bullshit, Edward." Mustang's onyx eyes glared right into Edward's hazel ones. "Hawkeye has driven me around for years and she's never made anyone sick."

"Well, I guess she did this time!" Ed exclaimed. "Get off my back." He walked out of the restroom to meet up with Hawkeye.

Mustang busted into the stall that Edward had previously occupied. He opened the trash bin and saw the packaging to all of the foods the teenager had purged. He sighed.

Edward was sick all right, but this was a different type of sick.

Mustang had come out of the bathroom after giving himself a chance to calm down. He had been furious about the turn of events, but knew being mad wouldn't solve anything. No. He would trick the kid to keep down his food instead.

* * *

 

"Time for dinner!" Mustang called, paying for the large pizzas he had ordered.

"What are you doing?" Hawkeye asked as she walked in, Edward trailing down the stairs behind her.

"I ordered pizza," the colonel answered. "That's what people do when they first move into houses and don't have all their food over yet."

"That's why we went grocery shopping today," Ed said.

"Well, I ordered pizza," Mustang said, carrying the pizzas to the table and placing them down.

"I'm not really hungry," Edward fibbed.

"You sick?" Mustang asked, causing Hawkeye to look at the teen with a worried expression.

"You did just get out of the hospital," she commented.

"It's been a while since I got out of the hospital, and I'm really fine; just a little carsick," the boy continued to lie. He hurried up the stairs.

"Carsick?" Hawkeye asked, directed toward Mustang. "I never make anyone carsick."

"He's sick," Mustang said.

"He just told us he was sick," Hawkeye responded.

"No, he's really _sick_ ," Mustang emphasized. "He's been throwing up everything he's eating."

"Should we take him to a doctor?" the blonde woman asked.

"And compromise the mission?" the colonel asked.

Hawkeye sighed. "There could be something really wrong if he's throwing up whatever he's eating, colonel. There could be a medical issue that's causing it."

"He's shoving his fingers down his throat and throwing up his food on purpose," Mustang said. "I've caught him twice."

"Twice? And you didn't say anything?" Hawkeye asked, becoming angry at this.

"Look, there's nothing I could have done if I didn't know anything." The colonel shrugged. "At first he told me he ate too much and then he said he was carsick."

"Those are legitimate reasons," Hawkeye reasoned.

"I don't think that he ate an entire box of Twinkies and purged because he was carsick," Mustang responded.

"We'll have to drop the mission if something's really wrong," Hawkeye said. "We'll meet up with Hughes in the morning and see what we can do, I guess."

"Sure." Mustang grabbed himself and Hawkeye some pizza before putting the leftovers in the fridge. The two went to bed shortly after.

* * *

 

Edward tip-toed out of the bedroom he was staying in - not wanting to wake the two military officers with trained hearing. His automail foot clanked a bit as he walked, which was something he really couldn't prevent.

Walking to the kitchen, he opened the fridge. An entire pizza pie was sitting there, just calling out to him.

_You know you want me_ , the pizza practically whispered to him. _Eat me, eat me, eat me_.

Ed grabbed the box, pulling it out of the fridge. He sat in the middle of the kitchen floor, shoveling the slices into his mouth. Sometimes they didn't even make it into his mouth, just over his cheeks and falling onto his pristine white sleep shirt. He didn't care.

Edward groaned when the entire box was finished. Now he was thirsty. He _needed_  something to drink. Dipping back into the fridge, Ed found a carton of juice and began to jug it straight from the carton.

_What have you done?!_  the voice screamed at him. _Get rid of it!_

He left an empty pizza box and a carton of juice that still contained juice onto the floor, walking to the bathroom. Ed began his routine of shoving his fingers down his throat and purging everything he had eaten. It was so much easier when he had a drink.

Hawkeye heard the clanking of the automail, which rose her from sleep. She was sure Mustang heard it too, and her suspicions were confirmed when she dipped out of her bedroom and saw that Mustang was waiting at his bedroom door, watching the door of the bathroom, which was cracked a bit with light shining through.

Hawkeye didn't even need to go into the bathroom to see what was going on. Through the crack of the bathroom door, she saw Edward crouched over the toilet with two fingers down his throat, vomiting.

Both military officers dipped back in their rooms. Mustang wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel worried or disgusted. Hawkeye, on the other hand, did know that she was worried. The boy could have so many problems already if he had been doing this for a long time, and she knew that if she had caught him in the act, he had probably been doing it for a while.

After the two military officers were back in their rooms, Edward began to walk back to the kitchen. He wanted to get rid of any evidence that he could. After cleaning the spilled juice and throwing away the now empty juice carton and pizza box, he went back to bed.

Mustang sighed, dipping down onto his bed and dialing the number of the safe house on the phone beside the bed.

_"Hello?"_  the tired voice of Hughes answered.

"We have a problem," Mustang managed out.

_"It's past midnight,"_ Hughes said.

"It's serious," Mustang responded. "Edward...he's very sick. We're going to have to back out of the mission."

_"Is he all right?"_  Hughes asked, immediately worried about the boy he had been caring for during the past few months, and even emotionally caring for during the past few years.

"He'll be all right for the night, I think," Mustang answered. "But we need to get him back to Central for treatment. I'm so sorry about the mission, Hughes."

_"Who gives a fuck about the mission?"_  It was the first time Mustang had heard his friend use the word 'fuck' since his daughter was born. _"If Ed needs help, we're gonna get him help."_

"Be here in the morning?" Mustang almost asked.

_"You know I will be."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is rather short; I was trying to get it finished quickly because I wanted to please everyone with a quick new chapter! Hope to write more soon, and I'll be responding to all comments as soon as I can :)


	5. Chapter 5

Edward awoke and groaned. He was feeling horrible after the events of the night prior. He had never...lost so much control. It frightened him a bit. He was worried it would happen again.

The teen shrugged off the thoughts. It definitely wouldn't happen again. He walked toward the stairs, seeing that both Mustang and Hawkeye had left their bedroom doors open and the two were not in either room. He figured they were downstairs. It was a bit odd. Surely they must have thought to wake Edward for his "first day of school", right?

He walked down the stairs and saw that Hughes, Hawkeye, and Mustang were all in the living room talking. They suddenly stopped when they heard the clanking of Ed's automail foot.

"Oh, Ed," Hughes said with a disappointed tone.

"What?" Edward asked defensively. He didn't like the way that everyone was staring at him, or the tone of voice that Hughes had used. It reminded him of his own father when he was a small child and would do something bad.

"We know about you being sick, Edward," Riza said calmly. "We're cancelling the mission and we'll be leaving for Central in an hour."

Edward turned his head to Mustang, glaring at him.

"What did you say to them?" the teenager asked, trying to keep himself calm.

"The truth," Mustang answered. "But Hawkeye saw you last night. We both did."

"You didn't see anything," Ed said. "You didn't see anything because I didn't do anything."

"Edward, please," Hawkeye started. "We saw you force yourself to...throw up...We just need to make sure that you're healthy, so we need to go back to Central."

"I'm perfectly healthy!" the teenager exclaimed. "I've never been better! I just want to finish this damn mission already so that I can leave and go on a different mission."

"You're being suspended until you're proven healthy," Mustang said. "Plus, I want to know if you being hospitalized before was because of this throwing up thing or not."

"I never threw up; I don't know what you're talking about!" Ed fibbed.

"Ed, will you just get in the car?" Hughes asked. "If you don't, we can use force, but we don't want to."

"Oh, please, Mustang will do anything to knock me out without getting in trouble," the teenager said with a roll of the eyes. "I'm not going back to Central until the mission is finished."

"You've left us with no choice," Hughes said. Mustang and Hughes both made their way to the blonde teen, grabbing both of his arms to restrain him. It was an effort with the teen's prosthetic limbs, but they managed it. After they had successfully restrained Edward, Hawkeye held up a needle she had retrieved from her first aide kit.

"W-What the hell is that?!" Edward shouted. "Do _not_  shoot me up with a needle!" he cried.

"I'm sorry, Edward," Hawkeye apologized as she exposed a bit of the teenager's flesh, pricking him with the needle and injecting the fluid that was inside.

"No..Not doing...anything..." Ed trailed off, his vision becoming hazy as his eyes began to droop. Soon enough, he was limp in Hughes and Mustang's arms.

"How did this happen?" Hawkeye asked, following the men to the car outside the house as they carried the teenager. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, he was staying at your house; surely you noticed something like this was happening?"

"I didn't notice anything," Hughes responded. "You're right; I should have noticed something like this was happening, but I didn't see a thing. It's not even like Ed's that good of a liar, either."

"Maybe he hasn't been doing it for that long," Mustang suggested. "Maybe this is new and that's why we didn't notice. We just need to get him to a doctor..."

"He was in the _hospital_ , Roy," Hughes said. "I know we don't know for sure, but I've got a good feeling of why he was in there...Low electrolyte levels? He must not have been actually digesting enough food...The fever he had right before that, too...How could we not have noticed anything?"

"I always just believed everyone when they said he had a bottomless pit of a stomach," Mustang said. "I can't believe this..."

"We'll take him to a doctor. There's a hospital not far from here," Hawkeye said. "Once we know of his condition and determine that he's not in immediate danger; we'll take him back to Central for further treatment."

"Very well."

* * *

Edward's eyes were barely open when he registered the fact that he was in the hospital. He didn't remember what happened at first - believing that he must have been on a dangerous mission or something and ended up in the hospital again. He was in the middle of hoping that his automail wasn't broken when he remembered everything that had happened.

"No no no..." he whispered to himself, curling onto his side to hide underneath the hospital blanket.

"That won't get you out of anything, Fullmetal," Mustang said from nearby. Edward peeked out of the blanket to see that the colonel was sitting beside his bed in a chair.

"Where's Hughes and Hawkeye?" the teenager asked.

"Hawkeye's in the cafeteria and Hughes is calling in to Headquarters about you being hospitalized; someone else will be taking the mission from here," Mustang explained.

A doctor then walked into the room.

"Hello, mister Elric," the doctor greeted as he picked up a chart and began to read from it. "Are you Colonel Mustang?" the doctor asked Mustang. The colonel nodded. "You said that you caught mister Elric forcing himself to throw up?"

"Yes," Mustang said. "I've caught him twice now. The first time he...he ate practically an entire fast food menu before throwing up. I didn't see anything but the throwing up the second time, which was last night."

"Well, I'll do the examination and we can see what's going on," the doctor said. "I'm doctor Warren, by the war," the man introduced. "So, Edward, can you come out of your blanket so that I can examine you?"

"Why, so you can tell everyone I'm forcing myself to throw up like they're saying?" Ed asked.

"Are you?" Doctor Warren raised an eyebrow.

"No!" Ed protested. "I just felt a little sick or something. I got carsick yesterday and wasn't feeling well."

"I believe you," Doctor Warren said. "But how about we do a quick examination to make everyone else feel better?"

"...Fine." Edward crawled out of his blanket, throwing his feet over the side of the bed and frowning at how he had been changed into a horrid hospital gown without a back - luckily it was tied, but it wasn't tied very well. He was swimming in the one-size-fits-all gown.

"Can you open your mouth for me?" Doctor Warren asked. Ed sighed, opening his mouth and allowing the man to take a wooden stick - that looked like it came out of a popsicle box - and examine his mouth and throat with a flashlight. "And is it all right if I take a look at your left hand?"

"What would my hand have anything to do with me making myself throw up?" Ed asked. "Not that I'm doing that."

"Well, usually when someone purges, they get scabs and marks on their hands from biting them when they're doing it," the doctor explained. "If you're not doing this, you have nothing to worry about."

Edward held out his hand, shutting his eyes in defeat. If he had refused the doctor, they would know what he was doing. But the doctor was finding out anyway now that he allowed him to look at his hand. It had fresh bite marks from the night prior and scabs from before.

"Thank you for letting me do this exam on you, Edward," the doctor thanked. "Unfortunately, I don't believe your story on you not purging."

"I told you the truth," the teenager fibbed.

"There's this funny thing about your body and your mouth," Doctor Warren started. "Only one of them always tell the truth."

Hughes and Hawkeye happened to walk into the room during this time.

"Are you Ed's doctor?" Hughes asked.

"Yes, and you are?" Doctor Warren asked.

"I'm Maes Hughes; Ed's been living with me for a while," Hughes said. "And this is Riza Hawkeye; she's Roy's assistant. Can you tell us why Ed's doing this to himself?"

"Well, from the exam I just completed, I'd have to say that he has symptoms of bulimia," Doctor Warren said. "Surprisingly, his teeth have suffered minimal damage, but I did see the beginnings of tooth erosion, which needs to be treated by a dentist immediately. I also saw scratches on his esophagus and his left hand had scabs and bite marks on them from purging," Doctor Warren explained.

"What exactly is bulimia?" Mustang asked.

"It's an eating disorder which causes the person who has it to impulsively binge and then purge afterward," Doctor Warren said. "There are different ways to purge. Exercising is one of the ways, as well as self-induced vomiting, and even the use of laxatives or diuretics."

"Gross," the teen scoffed.

"Do you think this is a joke, Edward?" Mustang growled. " _You're_  the one that's doing this to yourself! Do you have anything to say about this?!"

"Please calm down, Colonel Mustang," Doctor Warren said. "It really isn't Edward's fault. This is a disease that is incredibly difficult to control, but it is possible."

"I don't have any disease," Ed said. "Especially not one that stupid girls have to lose weight."

"This disease isn't always about weight, Edward," Doctor Warren said. "This disease is about usually having control. Usually it happens with girls, and they usually do have body-image issues, but it can happen with boys too."

"How do we fix this?" Mustang asked.

"Therapy, a dietitian, and lots of observation," Doctor Warren answered. "There are patients that choose to go into a treatment program at a residential facility in order to get better. There are also patients that choose to go into a treatment program at outpatient facilities."

"So he would go live at a treatment center?" Hughes asked.

"Yes, and he would receive all therapy at the center, as well as a dietitian that will teach him about good nutritional habits, and even help create a steady workout regimen," the doctor said.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Ed growled.

"What do you want to do, Edward?" Riza asked. "You have the opportunity to choose your treatment options."

"I don't need treatment for something that I don't have," the teenager said.

"You're stationed in Central, correct?" Doctor Warren asked both Hughes and Mustang. Both men nodded. "I can refer you to a specialist that is located there. I'm sure she will have treatment options in further depth."

"Yeah, we'll try that," Hughes said, looking to Mustang for confirmation. The man nodded.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing wrong with me!" Ed shouted as the adults left him in the hospital room.

_"I don't have a disease!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I feel like I'm not making any progress with this story. I'm sorry for taking so long in updating this with such a short chapter! I believe I've mentioned before that I have depression, and I was out of commission for a few days due to me being in a depressive state. I'll try to do better next time!


	6. Chapter 6

"You're going to pout the entire way back to Central?" Mustang asked, staring at the teenager's brooding expression through a mirror from the passenger seat. Hawkeye was driving, white knuckling the steering wheel at the amount of tension going through the vehicle. Everyone knew Edward was upset with the two of them and everyone else was worried about him.

"I'm not pouting," Ed denied, but there was no mistaking the pout that remained on his face.

"You can't be mad at us for trying to help you, Ed," Hughes said from beside the blonde teen.

"There's nothing to help me with," Edward said. "Besides, I'm mad because we couldn't finish the mission; not because of anything else."

"If you hadn't done this to yourself then we _would_  be finishing the mission," Mustang responded. "But _no_ , you just _had_  to force yourself to throw up."

"I don't have that disease the stupid doctor said I have," Ed said with a glare. "I'm not a girl or anything."

"The doctor said it wasn't about being a girl," Hawkeye intervened. "Anyway, we're almost back to Central. We'll go straight to the doctor. From there, the colonel and I will be returning to Headquarters."

"What about Hughes and I?" Ed asked.

"You're going to be staying with the doctor," Hughes answered. "And I'll be there with you until we figure out what we're going to do."

"I thought Mustang was my 'guardian'," Edward said.

"He is," Hughes said.

"I'm going to come back after I finish up some work so that we can decide what we're going to do for your treatment," the colonel said, not looking up from forms he was filling out. He then handed the forms back to Hughes. "Those are what the doctor's going to want to see when you meet with her."

"Fan-freaking-tastic," the teen said with a roll of the eyes. "I can't even fill out my own damn doctor forms?"

"You'd lie on the applications, Fullmetal," Mustang said.

It wasn't long before Hawkeye pulled the car into a parking lot for a very large building that Ed could only guess was the building of the doctor he would be forced to see. Hughes left the car, but Edward hesitated.

"Ed, please come out," Hughes said with a sigh. He knew this was going to be an effort, but he didn't think he would have much trouble getting Edward out of the _car_. "Come on, we'll be quick."

"If we're gonna be quick then why is Mustang meeting us _later_  after his work is done?" Ed asked. He wasn't an idiot; he knew how long it took the colonel to finish the mountains of paperwork on his desk.

"He's just getting a few things done; please come inside," Hughes practically begged. Usually Edward wasn't this difficult when they were together, but then again, he had never taken Ed to a hospital.

"Excuse me," a woman in a white lab coat intervened. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Sorry; I'm just trying to get my friend out of the car so that he can go in for his appointment," Hughes explained.

"Well, if that's a problem, I have some orderlies inside that would come out and get him," the female said.

"Fine, fine!" Ed exclaimed. "I'm coming out; Jesus." He got out of the car and stood by Hughes with a disgruntled expression.

"Thank you," Hughes thanked the woman. "Let's get you inside, Ed." The woman walked away as Hughes guided Edward inside the building. They approached a receptionist fairly quickly. "I'm here for an appointment for an Edward Elric."

"You're going to go down the hallway on the right and the waiting room is down there. A doctor will come to get you when it's time," the receptionist said.

"Thank you," Hughes thanked before leading Edward to the waiting room. They took seats in the waiting room, waiting for the moment that the doctor would call them in. The man looked to the teenager, who had pulled his legs into his chest in the chair he was sitting in. "Ed?"

"What?" the blonde griped.

"Can you tell me why you did this to yourself?" Hughes asked. "I mean...you couldn't have really wanted to do this because you liked it or anything."

"I told you I wasn't doing anything," Edward protested. "I just want to be left alone."

"Well, maybe the doctor can help."

It was moments later when a woman approached the two of them.

"I assume you must be my next appointment," the woman said. "Edward Elric, right?"

Hughes nodded. "I'm Maes Hughes; I'll be here with Ed for his appointment. His legal guardian will be coming a bit later."

"It shouldn't take long to do a psychological evaluation and figure out everything that's going on," the woman said. "I've done this a lot. My name is Doctor Wesson. If you'll follow me into my office, we can get this started."

Edward rolled his eyes again when Doctor Wesson turned away. Hughes stood from his chair, waiting for Ed to get out of his own and start following the doctor. Hughes followed behind the two of them.

Once the three of them were in an office, Doctor Warren sat at her desk where she had a file sitting on it.

"So, Edward, I took a look at the medical transcripts that were sent to me from the hospital you previously visited," Doctor Warren said. "According to the comments of the staff, you were in denial about your illness, but you were cooperative. Is any of that wrong?"

"I don't have any illness," Ed protested. "But I did do what they wanted me to do, if that's what you're asking."

Doctor Warren smiled. "If you don't have an illness, how do you explain the scabs on your hands?"

"My automail pinches my hand," Edward fibbed. "It happens all the time; you can ask my mechanic and other owners of automail prosthetics."

"And the electrolyte imbalance?" Doctor Warren asked. "If I've heard correctly from whom I spoke on the phone with, you always had an appetite."

"I was sick." Ed looked down at his hands. "I had a fever and wasn't eating anything, so I guess that's what it was from."

"Forgive me for contradicting that, Edward, but you don't get electrolyte imbalances just from skipping a few meals from a fever," the doctor said. "Obviously there's a problem."

"There are other causes of electrolyte imbalances; how do you know I don't have one of those problems?" Edward asked.

"Because all of your symptoms and signs clearly point to Bulimia," Doctor Warren answered. "Your throat is scabbed, Edward. That is one of the clear signs of Bulimia."

"Well, I guess you need to get some better doctors because I don't have it," Edward denied.

"The doctors here never examined you, though," Doctor Warren said. "How about we get a second opinion? I'll have one of my nurses give you an examination and we'll see how that goes," she suggested.

Edward cast a glance toward Hughes.

"You should do it, Ed," Hughes said softly.

Ed turned his gaze back toward Doctor Warren.

"I'll do it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry such a short chapter took so long! I would have finished it sooner but I pinched a nerve in my spine, which was very bad because I have severe scoliosis. Hoping to get that taken care of soon! I've been on bed-rest for a while, but I'll try to write more :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took so long, guys! I had another relapse in my illness and had to play 'mom' for a week while my parents were out of state and I'm the only person in my house with a drivers license.

Edward sat on an examination table with a nurse in front of him. According to Doctor Warren, she was a nurse that specialized in eating disorders. The nurse was currently looking at his hands, as she had already checked his throat and done much of what the doctor at the other hospital had done.

"Well?" Ed snapped when the nurse was writing in the file that Doctor Warren had given her to write the results in.

"Mister Elric, as a certified nurse, I can't say that you don't have disordered eating," the nurse said. "You have all the signs of Bulimia that I usually see."

"I don't have that!" Edward exclaimed. "I don't have Bulimia; I'm not some stupid girl!"

Doctor Warren, who had been waiting outside the room with Hughes, sighed.

"I think we're going to need to keep him for observation," she said.

"For how long?" Hughes asked.

"Well, typically we keep patients under observation for three days. He'd be upstairs with the other patients," Doctor Warren explained. "We can go over all of this with the papers when his legal guardian arrives."

"I'll call him and tell him to get over here," Hughes said.

Edward was left to wait in the examination room after the nurse left with papers for Doctor Warren. Hughes was quick to find a phone, calling Mustang.

_"Colonel Mustang,"_  the colonel answered in a bored tone.

"Roy, you gotta get down here; the doctor wants to talk about observation stuff," Hughes said.

_"So it's confirmed that he has a problem?"_  Mustang asked.

"Well, the nurse that just examined him seems to think so, but we won't know for sure what to do until we do observation," Hughes explained. "You really need to get down here."

_"I'm on my way now; I'll be there in fifteen minutes,"_ Roy said. _"_ _And Hughes?"_

"Yeah?"

_"Make sure Fullmetal stays alive until I get there,"_  the colonel said before hanging up the phone.

Hughes sighed. They were in for one hell of a trip.

* * *

"So, what's the verdict?" Mustang asked when he arrived to Doctor Warren's office.

"We firmly believe that Edward has Bulimia Nervosa," Doctor Warren answered. "In order to confirm the belief, we'll need to keep him under observation for a few days. Patients typically stay for three days."

"What will go on during the observation?" Hughes asked. Mustang was glad his friend had asked; it was on his mind but he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

"Well, during the time of observation, we're going to let him do whatever he pleases. We have security cameras everywhere and we'll be able to observe everything he does," Doctor Warren explained. "He'll be alone for quite a bit."

"He's not going to die, is he?" Mustang asked.

"He's not in immediate danger," Doctor Warren answered. "If he were in immediate danger from this disease, we wouldn't put him under observation like this. Fortunately, it is perfectly safe for him to be observed like this."

"What if he doesn't have a problem?" the colonel asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Then he'll be sent home with a clean bill of health," Doctor Warren said. "But I seriously doubt that he doesn't have a problem."

"And if he _does_  have a problem?" Hughes asked.

"We'll discuss treatment methods and residence," Doctor Warren answered. "Colonel Mustang, I'll need you to sign a few papers in order for Edward to go under observation." She reached into a drawer in her desk and handed over papers and a pen.

"He's going to be so pissed off at me," Mustang said as he signed the papers.

"When _isn't_  he pissed off at you?" Hughes asked, trying to lighten the mood.

It didn't work.

"Where does he go now?" Roy asked after signing the papers for the observation consent.

"He'll be escorted to an observation room by my nurse," Doctor Warren said. "He'll be given time to speak with you before my nurse takes him down."

"What will he need while he's here?" Hughes asked. "I'll bring anything he needs; he keeps all his stuff at my house."

"We'll provide him with clothing during the observation period, as well as any toiletries he may need. When we assess the situation, we'll decide what treatment steps to take and let you know what he'll need," Doctor Warren explained.

Hughes and Mustang were guided to the examination room that Ed was being kept in. The teenager looked up to the men with pathetic eyes.

"You're going to let them take me, aren't you?" Edward asked the two. Hughes nodded with a heavy heart. "Why?"

"Because you're sick, Edward," Hughes answered. "You need help."

"I told you a million times; I'm not sick," Ed protested.

"The doctors will be the judge of that," Mustang interjected. "They're going to keep you here until they know what the problem is." The colonel chose not to mention that the staff would be monitoring him all day. He didn't want to sabotage the results.

"Fine, let the doctors do what they do, but there's _nothing_  wrong with me," the teen spat out before a nurse walked into the room alongside a large male orderly.

"Come with us, Edward. We'll get you ready to go," the nurse instructed. Ed cast a look of betrayal to Hughes and Mustang before walking with the nurse and orderly.

It was three days of worrying for the two men. Alphonse knew nothing of his brother's issue. Hughes and Mustang had collectively agreed to tell Alphonse that Edward was in the hospital, but nothing more.

Of course Al had asked Hughes if he could visit his brother. The man had only responded with, "Ed's in bad shape; the hospital will call and let me know when we can see him." It was vague, but it wasn't a lie.

After the three days of observation, the doctor finally called. She called both Mustang, who then called Hughes. The colonel definitely wouldn't be going to the hospital without the his friend - Ed trusted Hughes more than he would ever trust Mustang.

Hughes still didn't tell Alphonse that the doctor had called. He didn't want to tell Alphonse anything of what was going on with Edward. That was Ed's job to do.

Both men arrived at the hospital at the same time. The doctor was waiting in the waiting room for the two, which could only be a bad sign.

"What's the verdict?" Mustang asked while Doctor Warren led the men to her office.

"It's not good," Doctor Warren answered. "We monitored him with video surveillance. He spent most of his time in the observation room, which we had assumed he would. There was a camera set up, and we brought his meals to his room for him."

"So what went wrong?" Hughes asked.

"See for yourself." Doctor Warren allowed the men to enter her office. She then gestured to the chairs in front of her desk while she pushed a tape inside of a small television that was seated on her desk.

_"Edward, we have your food," a nurse said as she walked into the room. She placed the tray of food on the bedside table. The teenager was sulking in the bed he was given, picking at the hospital shirt and pants he was being forced to wear._

_"Thanks," the teen muttered before the nurse walked out of the room._

_Once the door was shut behind the nurse, Ed decided to pick apart the food he was given. It was a sandwich with a fruit cup and three candy bars. It seemed suspicious that they would give him that many candy bars with his food._

_Edward was a state alchemist, and able to deduce certain situations. He looked around the room, trying to find a camera. When finding none that he could see, the teenager decided to go up to the door, pulling on the handle to find that it was locked._

_He would hear if anyone was beginning to walk into the room._

_With all of the factors saying that he could get away with what he wanted to do without getting caught right away, Ed grabbed the tray of food, scarfing the food down like he was dying of starvation._

_With the speed that he was forcing the food down, it wasn't long until Edward was finished with the food. He pushed the plate aside, walking into the private bathroom they had given him._

While there had been no cameras in the bathroom, the men and doctor could hear the sounds of the boy purging.

"Oh god..." Hughes trailed off.

"Well, you said after observing him you'd diagnose him and we'd figure out treatment," Mustang said. "What's next?"

"Well, personally, I would recommend residential treatment here, but there are other options," Doctor Warren said.

"No," Hughes interjected. "I don't want Ed going into residential treatment unless there are no other options."

"What are our current options, then, Hughes?" Mustang asked.

"He stays with me and we deal with it. I'll research on bulimia so that we can help him," Hughes explained. "That kid's as good as family to me, Roy, I can't just abandon him at some hospital. You told me yourself that you thought of the kid as a son."

"I didn't say son," Mustang said with a glare. "You're remembering wrong."

"No, you said son," Hughes said. "I'm in the investigations department; I don't forget easily - even if it was two years ago."

"Shut up."

"Well, if you'd like to keep him at home, we offer outpatient treatment," Doctor Warren said.

"And what's that?" Mustang asked.

"Outpatient therapy and a dietitian twice a week," Doctor Warren answered. "He'll have someone to talk to and the dietitian will give him a diet plan to follow. The only thing is that you'd have to make sure that he follows it and monitor him after meals until he's digested."

"And he'll be able to get better without a hospital that way?" Hughes asked.

"Well, he'll be weighed with the dietitian once a week so that we can make sure he's following the diet plan," Doctor Warren explained. "Our goal is to keep him healthy and keep him from binging and purging."

"How exactly are we supposed to keep him from binging?" Mustang raised an eyebrow.

"Just keep an eye on him," Doctor Warren said. "It's the only way to keep him from doing it."

"So we can take him home now?" Hughes asked.

"Yes, I'll just need the colonel to sign some release forms." Doctor Warren pulled out some forms from her desk and handed them to the colonel along with a pen. "You can make an appointment at the receptionist for the dietitian and therapist here if you'd like. We have an excellent one on staff, and incidentally, if Edward needed to be hospitalized for any reason, he would still be seeing the same therapist if he came here," the woman explained as Mustang signed the papers.

"Would he see other kids with his issues when he comes?" Hughes asked. While he sort of wanted Edward to see what would happen to him if he continued with this problem, he was also worried of the teenager's reaction to other sick children.

"Well, we do have group therapy available for outpatient patients," Doctor warren said. "It's on Saturdays and is completely optional."

"Thank you," Mustang said. "Where is Edward?"

"We'll have a nurse bring him out to you if you wait in the waiting room."

Hughes and Mustang waited until the door that lead to all examination and patient rooms opened. A nurse walked out with Edward, who looked absolutely miserable.

"Hey, Ed," Hughes greeted cheerily, trying to lighten up the mood. He really didn't feel like being cheery about this situation, though. Mustang felt the same way, but didn't go out of his way to act like everything was all right. "How you doing?" Hughes reached a hand out to pat the teenager's shoulder when it was slapped away.

"Don't touch me," Edward practically growled. "You two just left me in there. You left me in there to rot for _three days_!"

"It was for your own good, Fullmetal," the colonel said. "You're killing yourself with this. I have half a mind to throw you back in there for the doctors to treat you, and I would have if it wasn't for Hughes."

"You're coming home with me," Hughes said. "We're gonna make sure you get better."

"I'm not staying with you," Ed responded. "I'm taking Al and we're getting on the next train out of Central."

"Actually, you're not," Mustang said.

"And why not?" Edward asked.

"Because I suspended all your funds out of your State Alchemist account as well as your title," Mustang answered. "You're not going anywhere or doing anything until you're healthy."

"You can't do that!" Ed protested.

"I'm your colonel; I can do whatever I need to," Mustang said. "I can't have a soldier not be at his best because he's not eating properly."

"Fuck you," Ed spat.

"Okay, let's go," Hughes said, guiding Ed to where he kept the car parked. Edward brooded in the car while Hughes drove them back to his place, worrying about what to tell Alphonse. When the two walked through the front door, Al practically attacked Edward with a hug.

"Brother, Mr. Hughes told me you were at the doctor," Alphonse said. "What happened? Was it because of your fever?"

"It's nothing, Al," Ed said. "I'm going to sleep now."

"Ed," Hughes said as Edward began to climb the stairs. The boy stopped where he stood. "When you wake up, we're going to have a talk about what happens next."

"Great," Ed said sarcastically, finishing his climb to his bedroom and collapsing on the bed.

_I do_ not _have some stupid disease,_ Edward thought to himself.


	8. Chapter 8

"You have to eat something," Hughes said when he placed a tray of food on the table beside Edward's bed. The teen hadn't left from the bed since he had been back from the hospital; Hughes knew the only way to get the kid to eat was to bring it to him. So far, Ed hadn't touched a thing in three days. Hughes had done some research and knew this meant a binge could happen at any time, so he had to be on his best to make sure that didn't happen.

"I don't have to eat anything if I don't want to," Edward said in protest. "You tell Mustang to un-suspend me and we'll see about me eating something."

"So are you saying that this is a form of protest to get what you want?" Hughes asked. Ed weakly nodded. "Well, we're not giving in that easily. You're sick. If you don't want to eat...I'll have no choice but to take you back to the hospital."

"No!" Ed exclaimed. "No...I'll eat, okay?"

"Good," Hughes said. He moved to walk out of the room when he spotted the suit of armor sitting in the corner of the room. Alphonse hadn't taken kindly to the news that Edward hadn't been eating properly, so had dedicated all of his time to watching Edward. "Al, you watch your brother."

"Yes, mister Hughes," Alphonse said as the man walked out of the room. "Brother…Please…"

"I said I was going to eat it and I will, okay?" Ed growled. "What is it with you and Hughes ganging up on me?"

"We're not ganging up on you, brother; we just want you to be healthy," Alphonse argued. He had been devastated when Hughes and Mustang sat him down and explained that Edward was diagnosed with Bulimia. Despite this explanation, Edward had completely denied the problem at all.

"I _am_  healthy," Edward responded. "Even the damn doctor said I'm at a healthy weight!"

"They said that you weren't eating and that when you did you were throwing it up, brother," Alphonse said. "Even mister Hughes said that he's going to be taking you to the dentist tomorrow to look at what you did to your teeth."

"I didn't do anything to my damn teeth because I didn't do anything," Ed said, though he did know that there had to be tooth decay. When he had first begun the cycle of binging and purging, Edward had become obsessed with brushing his teeth excessively afterward. It had become less and less important over time.

"You and I both know that's not true, brother," Al said so quietly that Edward had to strain to hear him. "I've been watching you for a while; you don't eat right. When mister Hughes says that you've been eating everything and throwing it up, I believe him because I've seen you go out of control and eat everything."

"What?" Ed asked.

"Whenever you're in the mess hall at headquarters you eat a lot or nothing at all. Then you always spend a while in the bathroom," Alphonse said. "I thought it was just a weird quirk of yours, you've always been that way, but…But I think mister Hughes and the colonel are right."

"My own damn brother…" Edward trailed off. "God dammit, Al! You're against me too!"

"No, brother, I'm for you!" Alphonse argued.

"Get out!" Ed growled, throwing the food that had been given to him onto the floor. "Get out of my room right now!"

"Brother, you can't just throw your food down like that," Al said, bending over to pick up the discarded food before it could ruin the carpet.

"Get _out_!" Edward shouted, pointing to the door.

Alphonse sighed softly, gathering the discarded food and dishes before walking out of the room.

* * *

"Now, Edward, we're just going to have a peek at your teeth and see what's been going on," the dentist explained as the blonde teen sat in the examination chair.

"If you put your hands in my mouth I will fucking bite you," Ed said in monotone.

"Um…" the dentist trailed off. "Is this safe?" the man asked Hughes and Mustang, who were both standing in the room.

"It might be safe to give him a light sedative," Mustang said.

"Fuck you!" Edward spat.

"I think I agree with you, Roy," Hughes responded.

"I'll have my nurse come in to deliver it," the dentist said before walking out of the room.

"Fuck you guys!" Edward shouted. "You're not gonna give me a damn sedative!"

"We're going to give you whatever drugs we need to give you to get you to _behave_  for the damn doctor," Mustang said. "I swear to God, Edward, you are so close to going in the hospital again. You'd already be there if it wasn't for Hughes, so you could act a little grateful."

"Oh, grateful to one of the people that got me diagnosed with a girl disease?" Ed asked. "I don't have a problem. There's nothing to cure me of."

"We'll see about that," Mustang said just as the dentist returned with several nurses.

"Oh, so now you need a team of people to take me down and give me a sedative?" Edward asked.

"Needles," Mustang said. Ed's eyes suddenly widened, losing his smart ass attitude and struggling against the people who were holding him down.

"Stop it! Stop, stop, stop!" Edward cried before the sedative was given. It didn't take long for the struggling to die down and for Edward's eyes to droop shut.

"He'll be all right for the rest of his appointment and probably be out of it for the rest of the day," the dentist explained, excusing his nurses as he began to look through Ed's mouth. "Hm…there's not a lot of decay here, though it's obvious that he's been doing this for quite some time. Years, probably."

"Could you pinpoint how many years?" Hughes asked.

"Well it looks like it's been around three years," the dentist said. "I've had a lot of Bulimia patients at different timelines, so I can tell with these, and it looks like he's been very lucky. He probably took pretty good care of his teeth."

"What's going to happen to his teeth if he continues to do this to himself?" Mustang asked.

"They'll definitely suffer more damage," the dentist answered. "I can do a deep cleaning today and you can bring him back in three months to see if there's been any further damage."

"Thank you," Hughes thanked.

The rest of the appointment went smoothly. Edward had a deep cleaning while he was still out of it from the sedative. Unfortunately, this meant he was still out when the appointment was over, and the two men had to figure out how to get the teenager out of the dentist's office.

Mustang struggled as he carried the heavy teen out of the office. Edward didn't weigh as much as he felt, but the automail really added to how heavy the teen felt.

When they returned to Hughes' house, the man placed the teenager in his bed. Alphonse had agreed to leave Edward alone for the time being. It wasn't like Ed was going to do anything bad while he slept.

He only did everything bad when everyone else was sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, this chapter took so long and it's still so short. I'm hoping I'll continue to update, but I'll be starting my first day of college tomorrow (kill me now) and I'll probably be seriously busy. I hope you guys like the chapter; even if it's short!


	9. Chapter 9

Edward walked through the house quietly as not to alarm anyone. He used all of his stealth training he had received from spending one month with Izumi Curtis as his teacher to get through the house undetected to indulge himself. 

It didn't take long before Ed reached the cabinets of food in the Hughes household. Of course he felt guilty. Of course. There wasn't a way he _couldn't_ feel guilty while he uncontrollably ate the majority of Mrs. Hughes food and vomited it into a toilet.

Despite how many times Edward did this, he still refused to admit he had a problem.

He was halfway through the leftovers of Quiche from dinner when Alphonse wrapped his armor arms around him.

"Brother, please stop," Alphonse said as gently as he could, not wanting to wake the others as well. He wanted to be the one who got his brother to stop doing this to himself. He wanted to be the one to protect Edward from himself. "Please…"

"Let me go, Al," Ed said. His stomach was aching and he felt like he was about to burst. He had to get rid of the food. He had to get rid of all of it.

"No, brother," Alphonse said sternly. "I won't let you throw it up and hurt yourself even more." It had been the first time that Al had actually witnessed his older brother gorging himself so uncontrollably like this. Sure, Alphonse had seen Edward eat large amounts of food, but never like _this_. Edward had been sitting on the floor eating Quiche with his hands like an animal.

"Stop it," Ed said, more desperately this time. "My stomach hurts, Al!" This brought attention to Hughes, who jumped out of bed at the sound of the brothers fighting. He had at first expected an intruder with his military training. Placing his gun back inside his night table, the man walked downstairs to find out what the boys were fighting about.

"What's going on here?" Hughes asked when he walked downstairs, even though the question was unneeded. It was obvious of what had happened. What Edward had done and how Alphonse had tried to stop him.

"Let me go!" Ed shouted. Alphonse finally released his brother. Edward moved to run past Hughes to the bathroom, only to be stopped by the man. "Get out of my way."

"I can call the hospital if you'd like," Hughes said. "I know that you want to throw up, but I'm not letting you do it."

"You guys can't stop me from doing this!" Ed exclaimed. "This is my life; it's my body, and I'll do what I want with it!"

"You're going to wake up Elysia and Gracia if you haven't already," Hughes warned. "Yes, it's your body, but this is not just your life, Edward. Your brother needs you. You've become like a son to me; is this really how you want to end it all? You know that if you die so many lives will be disrupted from it."

Edward hesitated. "Let me go." He pushed past Hughes and walked to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind him.

It wasn't long before the sound of vomiting filled the room.

"Mr. Hughes?" Alphonse asked when he saw the man clench his fists.

"I'll be calling the hospital in the morning," Hughes said. "I thought that Ed needed a chance to get better at home where he has a support system, but if he needs to be in the hospital, I won't stop him from getting better."

"…All right, Mr. Hughes."

* * *

“Thank you for entrusting Edward into our care, Mr. Hughes and Colonel Mustang; we will take very good care of him while he’s here,” Doctor Warren said as she finished up signing bits of the clipboard to sign on as Ed’s residential doctor. “You can visit every Friday from seven to eight at night. Edward will be very well taken care of with us.” 

“Just make sure he gets better,” Hughes said. “I want to take him home soon.”

“Well, you can sign him out at any time after signing an AMA release form, but we do recommend a three month stay,” Doctor Warren explained.

“I _know_ what _you_ recommend,” Hughes said. “I just want Ed to get better. If he gets better before the three months is over, I’m taking him home. If he takes longer to get better…I guess he’ll stay.”

“Thank you,” Doctor Warren said. “I’ll have my nurse show you out and go visit Edward.” The nurse showed the two men out of the hospital as Doctor Warren walked into the residential bedroom where Edward was kept. “I’m so glad you’ve decided to stay with us, Edward.”

“It’s Ed,” the teen argued. “And _I_ didn’t decide _anything_. They just _threw me_ in here.”

“Is that how you feel about it?” Doctor Warren asked. “I would have thought you had at least some desire to recover.”

“I’m telling you there’s nothing wrong with me,” Edward said.

“Is that so? Well, we have a video tape that proves otherwise _and_ Mr. Hughes _saw_ you on your way to purge. You were fighting with you brother,” Doctor Warren explained. “Why is that?”

“I was fighting with him because I had to go to the bathroom and he wasn’t letting me for some reason,” Ed said. It wasn’t totally a lie.

“You were going to the bathroom to purge,” Doctor Warren said.

“ _No!_ I was going to the bathroom to _piss_!” Edward exclaimed.

“Now you’re getting defensive,” Doctor Warren said. “Look, we’re having group therapy with everyone with Bulimia in half an hour. You’ll be able to hear what everyone else says.”

* * *

“How is he doing?”Hughes asked through the phone to the hospital, trying to get more information about Edward. He knew that the teenager couldn’t get better in a day, but he still wanted to know if the kid had any sort of panicked reaction to being left there the way he was. 

_“Mister Hughes, Edward is doing fine for the time being,”_ Doctor Warren said. _“He’s just finished through group therapy with the others diagnosed with his disease and is currently in the rec room playing poker with himself.”_ Hughes didn’t find this odd; whenever Alphonse refused to play poker with his brother, Ed always seemed to find a way to play by himself.

“Has he admitted he has a problem yet?” Hughes asked. He was worried about Edward’s continued denial of the problem. If Ed didn’t admit there was something wrong, he couldn’t get better.

_“Unfortunately, he’s still denying doing anything wrong,”_ Doctor Warren answered. _“He claims he’s just trying to go to the bathroom. We’re going to keep an eye on his eating and have him under observation after meal times. After he goes so long without purging, we’re going to put him through therapy.”_

“What do you mean _after_?” Hughes asked. “Shouldn’t he be going through some sort of therapy to help him cope with not being able to…do what he does?” The man couldn’t bring himself to say _purge_.

_“You have to understand, Mister Hughes; this disease is physical, but it’s also mental. His malnourished brain doesn’t want to get better, so we need to help him get to a nourished point and then put him through therapy,”_ Doctor Warren explained. _“If you’d like, you can come back in and we’ll go over this further.”_

“No, I think I got it,” Hughes said with a sigh. “Call the colonel and I if there are any changes.”

_“Of course,”_ Doctor Warren said before their call ended.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So short chapter, I had to get it over with so that I could post something after forever. College is rough, everyone, but I love it.


	10. Chapter 10

_“Brother, how are you?”_ Alphonse asked when he managed to get a phone call through to his brother.

“Wish I wasn’t here,” Edward responded. “I wish I was out looking for the stone so I could fix you.” Alphonse wanted to sigh, but refrained from doing so. He didn’t want Ed to know how helpless and somewhat disappointed he felt.

“You know that you can’t fix me until you fix yourself, brother,” Al said. “When you get yourself better and out of the hospital, then we can go searching for the stone. You’ll be better then.”

Edward bit his lip. “You know what, you’re right. I need to get better. I gotta go, they’re calling me in for another therapy session, bye.” Ed then hung up the phone, sighing softly before returning to the rec room.

Ed had kept the issue a secret, and he knew this wasn’t something normal people did, but he would never admit that he had an issue to deal with. He knew what he was going to do. He was going to get out of the hospital doing whatever it took and then work on getting the Philosophers stone so that he could fix his brother. After all, that’s the only reason he was in the military that had put him in the horrible hospital.

“Doctor Warren?” Edward called when he spotted the woman in the rec room writing on a clipboard – probably observing other patients and their conditions. Ed didn’t want to admit that she might’ve been observing him as well.

“What is it, Edward?” Doctor Warren asked when she looked up from the notes she had been collecting.

“I have Bulimia,” was all Ed said. He found a pain in his chest when he said it.

“Yes you do,” Doctor Warren said. “So now that you’ve finally admitted that you have a disease, are you ready to work on your recovery?”

“When’s the soonest I can get out of here?” Ed asked.

“Well, we recommend a three month stay, but if all is well beforehand, I’ll release you as I see fit, or your guardian can come in and sign an AMA form,” Doctor Warren explained.

“Thanks,” Edward said. Now that he knew what needed to happen, he knew exactly what to do. He would just need to control his urge until he was out of the clear. Ed was quick to head back to the phones and dial Hughes’ number.

_“Hughes residence, Gracia speaking,”_ Gracia answered the phone. Edward could hear Elysia in the background playing with Alphonse.

“Mrs. Hughes, would it be all right if I talked to Mr. Hughes?” Edward asked. He knew she wouldn’t refuse.

_“Of course, let me just get him,”_ Gracia said. Edward could hear her calling for Hughes before he picked up the phone.

_“Ed?”_ Hughes asked into the phone.

“Hey, Hughes,” Edward said, biting his lip. What if he couldn’t get Hughes to pick him up? What if the man saw through his lies? “I know I have a problem now, and I want to work on it…I just want to work on it with you in a…familiar setting.”

_“So you admit that you have an eating disorder?” Hughes asked._

“Yeah,” Ed said. Every time he admitted there was a problem a piece of him convinced himself further that there wasn’t. “Would it be all right if I came back with you?”

_“I’m on my way now,”_ Hughes said. _“I’ll be there soon, but I need to get Roy and convince him to sign the papers to get you out. He_ is _your legal guardian, after all.”_

“Just hurry,” Edward said. “I don’t know how much longer I can stay here without losing my mind. The people here are crazier than I am.”

_“I’m on it.”_

* * *

“For the last time, Hughes; I don’t think Edward is ready to leave the hospital yet,” Roy said as they entered the office. “I don’t see the point in bringing me here when I just don’t know if I can sign those papers with good conscience.”

 “Roy, I know you don’t think it’s a good idea, but will you please sign the damn forms?” Hughes asked just as they approached the receptionist.

“I want to see him before I even consider signing him out,” Roy finally said before Doctor Warren was approaching them.

“Hello, colonel Mustang, Mr. Hughes,” Doctor Warren greeted. “I understand that you’ve come to sign Edward out of the hospital.”

“He’s ready to come home and work on his problem without the hospital’s help,” Hughes said.

“We’d like to see him before I sign the forms,” Mustang added.

“I’ll send for him,” Doctor Warren said. “You two need to understand, though…Bulimics tend to lie, telling their loved ones that they’re better. They can hide it very well, and even maintain a healthy body weight. I just want you to be prepared for when you bring him home.”

“If,” Mustang interjected.

“You’re going to be bringing him home sometime,” Doctor Warren said before pressing a button on the pager she kept clipped to her belt, unclipping it and bringing it to her lips. “Please bring Edward Elric into my office.”

“Are you the only doctor here?” Mustang asked monotone. He wasn’t particularly interested, just trying to pass time.

“I’m the head doctor here,” Doctor Warren answered. “Plus when I page someone, my name comes up on the other pagers.”

Suddenly the door opened and Edward was brought in by a nurse.

“Ed,” Hughes said with a smile, bringing the boy into his arms for a hug. The teenager weakly hugged him back. “How’ve you been doing?”

“I just want to leave here,” Edward said quietly. “I don’t want to…to get better around here with these strangers. I want to be with the people I know.” Ed knew Hughes wanted him to be around his friends and family. He _knew_ it; and he was using it to his advantage.

“Well, we’re going to get you out of here,” Hughes said.

 

“Not so fast,” Mustang interjected. “Edward.”

“Mustang,” the boy responded.

“Tell me; are you really better? The doctor, here, informed us that you could be faking this whole thing just to get out of here and go back to what you were doing,” Mustang said.

“Do I look like I’m faking it?” Ed asked. “I have a serious problem and I just want to get better with everyone else. I have Bulimia, Mustang!” The words were painful for Edward to hear coming from his own lips.

The colonel hesitated.

“Get us the AMA papers,” Mustang ordered the doctor, who took them out of a drawer in her desk. She handed the papers and a pen to Mustang, who was quick to sign them. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I’m so glad you’re coming home, Ed,” Hughes said as he walked the teenager out of the hospital.

* * *

“How did you like dinner?” Gracia asked when she was collecting the empty dishes from the table, preparing to wash them before bed. Ed knew that while she was talking to everyone, the question was aimed directly at him. Of course Hughes wouldn’t have hidden anything from Gracia. 

“It was great,” Hughes said, turning to Edward with a grin. “What did you think, Ed?”

“I really liked it,” Edward said politely. There would be no way that he would ever admit the immense guilt that he felt with each bite. The urge to get rid of it; do whatever he could to empty his stomach once again. “I’m feeling real tired, is it all right if I hit the hay?”

“Sure,” Hughes said. Ed stood from the table, knowing all eyes were on him as he walked up the stairs and into his bedroom. Hughes then turned to Alphonse when the door was shut. “I want you to guard the bathroom. I know he said he’s better, but it’s best that we be here if he tries to do anything.”

“Of course, Mr. Hughes,” Alphonse said, standing from the table as well and making his way to the bathroom, sitting outside of it and waiting for his brother who may or may not attempt to vomit.

The others went to bed and there was still no sign of Edward getting up to empty his food.

Alphonse could only wonder when this had all happened. Ed always used to be a glutton for food, and he was always the bigger eater out of them two. Alphonse would pick at his food when he was younger, and Edward would encourage him to eat it. Al could even distinctly remember sneaking food into his armor for later to give to Ed.

And that’s when Alphonse was beginning to realize that this was a problem that spread over years. When Ed was in the hospital, he had done a bit of reading, and knew well enough that Bulimics would hide their food and eat large quantities before vomiting it.

This wasn’t just a new problem.

This had been happening for years.

Edward grabbed stick gum he had hidden in his dresser drawer and begun to chew it to clear up his breath.

He then slid the Tupperware full of vomit underneath his bed.

He would take care of it later. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So today is the anniversary of my grandmother's death...so I needed to distract myself and get some writing done. Enjoy :)


	11. Chapter 11

Ed made sure the coast was clear before he could sneak the vomit filled Tupperware into the bathroom where he could dispose of the mess and clean out the plastic container. Sure it had caused the room to smell, though he had managed to disguise it somewhat with some of the cologne that Havoc had given him as a gag gift on his last birthday, and as long as no one other than Al came into the room, everything would be fine. 

When the Tupperware had been cleaned as much as Edward could manage, he stuck the plastic container back underneath the bed, ready for the next time he might need it.

“Ed,” Hughes called from downstairs. “Come on, it’s time for breakfast.” Edward knew this was his chance to further solidify that he was ‘better’. The others believing that nothing was wrong was for the best.

Edward made his way downstairs, sitting at the table with the others. Even though Alphonse never ate, he was always there.

“Brother, I was thinking…” Alphonse mentioned. “Maybe we could go back to Resembool when you were better. You know, to visit Winry and Granny.”

_“Ed…?” Winry asked with wide eyes. “What are you doing to yourself?” the girl asked as she watched Edward hunched over a toilet with two fingers down his throat. “What are you doing?”_

“Maybe,” Ed simply stated, eating the food that Gracia served. When he was finished with the food, he helped Gracia do the dishes while Hughes left for work and Alphonse kept Elysia entertained. He quickly finished helping Gracia before running off to his room to use the Tupperware. It was the perfect opportunity with everyone else being busy.

Afterward, no one suspected a thing.

Ed went on with his usual day in the Hughes household with some extra observations from his brother. Of course Alphonse would be worried about him after he had admitted that he had Bulimia. They would be watching him until he could prove he was “better”, but apparently, he was doing an all right job of so far.

When Hughes returned from work that day, everything seemed normal.

When Mustang made a visit over the weekend, he said Edward looked good. That he looked _better_.

But Ed knew the real secret; he kept it to himself when Mustang assigned him back on missions.

He stayed silent when Mustang finally let him travel again.

* * *

“Edward…” Hohenheim trailed off when the teenager – a young adult now, he had just turned eighteen – walked into Pinako’s house. He sported a ponytail, automail limbs, and was taller than he used to be, though even with those new additions, the boy just looked different. 

Hohenheim noticed that what he had seen in the eyes of his young boy who used to run to him and Trisha, holding onto his father’s legs and telling him about what he had done during the day with Winry and Alphonse, was not in the eyes of this boy. Hohenheim had spoken to Mustang about the boy before, and the colonel did mention that Edward had faced quite a bit in his years, but nothing more than that. It was Edward’s story to tell, not Mustang’s.

“You look different,” Hohenheim commented.

“Maybe it’s because I’m not five anymore,” Ed responded with a roll of the eyes. “Look, I’m just here to grab some things for Al. Even though my clothes will be baggy on him, he can still wear them instead of that ridiculous hospital gown.” Edward had finally just returned Alphonse’s body, and the younger of the two was extremely thin and frail.

“I’ll join you to the hospital,” Hohenheim said. “Winry baked an apple pie for him with a Mrs. Gracia’s recipe, and she wanted me to deliver it for her.”

“She won’t bring it herself?” Ed asked.

“She said she has a last minute rush order for an automail piece,” Hohenheim answered. He lifted the basket that contained the pie as Edward grabbed a bag of clothing. They walked out the door together.

All was silent for a few moments before Hohenheim spoke up.

“Your hair looks different,” Hohenheim said. “Lighter than it did before. Did you dye it?”

“Why would I dye it?” Ed asked with furrowed eyebrows. “I’m not some girl that worries about how she looks or anything.”

“You wouldn’t have to be; you’ve grown up handsome,” Hohenheim commented. “Your mother would be proud.”

“Not really,” Edward said. He was past the days of raging whenever someone – especially _Hohenheim_ – mentioned his mother. It still hurt sometimes, but it had been his life for eight years. He had time to adjust.

“Why do you say that?” Hohenheim asked.

“Because of what I did,” Ed said. _What I’m still doing,_ he thought to himself.

“She wouldn’t be angry. She would’ve forgiven you for anything you’ve done over the past,” Hohenheim said. “Speaking of the past, the colonel did mention to me that you’ve been through a few issues in the past. He wouldn’t speak more; care to share?”

“Not to you or any other therapist Winry’s tried to set me up with,” Edward responded.

“Why would you need a therapist?” Hohenheim asked.

“Ask someone else.” The two finally arrived at the hospital, walking straight to Alphonse’s hospital room – Edward had memorized the room number. It helped that there weren’t that many rooms in the small-town hospital.

“Brother!” Alphonse exclaimed when Ed walked into the room. “I didn’t know how long you were going to be gone.”

“I meant to be back before you woke,” Edward said. “And don’t strain yourself too much. You’re still pretty weak from everything that was going on.”

“I feel amazing,” Alphonse said. “You have no idea how great antiseptic smells.”

“If you had a nose with all the times I’ve been in the hospital, you would know the horrors,” Ed said with a laugh. Hohenheim just watched the two, sitting in a chair beside the bed as Edward pulled out clothing from the bag he had packed.

“I brought you some things to wear instead of those stupid hospital clothes,” Edward mentioned. “I know how uncomfortable and scratchy they must feel.”

“Uncomfortable and scratchy is better than nothing,” Al said.

“Right…” Ed trailed off. “Anyway, I spoke to your doctors this morning and they said they would be releasing you today as soon as I sign the papers. How cool is that?” Alphonse smiled.

“The three of us should share some of this delicious apple pie that Winry brought first, though,” Hohenheim said, presenting the basket on the small table that was connected to Al’s hospital bed.

“That sounds great,” Alphonse said. Hohenheim found a plastic knife and some plastic plates from the nurse’s station before cutting three pieces out of the pie before handing two of them to the boys. Alphonse took his with a, “thank you,” and began to eat it as soon as it was in his hands, savoring every bite.

Edward, though, was the one who caught Hohenheim’s attention. He took the pie hesitantly and stared down at the food as though it were poisoned. Hohenheim almost joked about it, though noticed that there really was some sort of emotion in Ed’s eyes that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Soon enough, the eldest Elric brother began to eat the pie.

“This is amazing,” Al said. “I’ll have to thank Winry for this. Where is she?”

“Last minute automail rush order,” Edward said, repeating Hohenheim’s words from earlier. “I’ll take the plates to the nurse’s station to try and get rid of them.” He then stood, taking the empty plates from the others.

“Brother…” Alphonse trailed off, looking up at his brother. “You’re all right, aren’t you?”

“I’m fine, why?” Ed asked.

“I don’t know; I think I’ve just been thinking too much,” Alphonse shrugged it off. “You go take those plates.”

“Who are you, the colonel?” Edward joked, taking the plates out of the room.

“Is there something wrong that I should know about?” Hohenheim asked, worried about his eldest son, who seemed to be acting a bit strange. Hohenheim knew if he mentioned this to Edward, he would just be yelled at for not being around to actually know what strange acting was for Edward. Though, Alphonse appeared to be having these feelings as well.

“Not yet,” Al said quietly. Ed was gone for quite a few minutes before returning. “That took a little while, brother.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t believe how hard that nurse’s station is to find,” Edward fibbed before he sat beside Alphonse’s bed once again.

Hohenheim had caught his son in that lie. He had clearly seen Edward at the nurse’s station before when he had visited, and knew that the younger blonde knew where it was. Ed wasn’t a fool; he could read a directory, which was framed on the walls of every hallway.

“Hey, I’m gonna get you out of here,” Ed said. “I meant to sign the papers while I was out there, but I got a little distracted. I’m gonna do that now and we can get you back home.” The blonde was quick to leave once again.

“Do you need my help to dress in the clothes Edward brought for you?” Hohenheim asked. Alphonse shook his head, causing the father to look at the youngest warily.

“If I need any help, I have a nurse’s button. They’ll come running if I press it,” Al assured. Hohenheim nodded, walking out of the room and after Edward.

Hohenheim caught up to his son, grabbing his arm.

“Why were you lying back there?” Hohenheim asked.

“Hey!” Ed groaned, pulling his arm back to his body and cradling it protectively. “Why aren’t you with Al? You can’t just leave him by himself to come after me!”

“You’re deflecting,” Hoehenheim said. “Tell me why you were lying.”

“What are you, a therapist?” Edward asked. “I wasn’t lying; I was really looking for the nurse’s station.”

“It wouldn’t have taken you that long; you’ve seen the directory before, and you’ve been to the nurse’s station,” Hohenheim said. “So why did you take so long and then lie? You were covering something up; I know it.”

“I wasn’t covering anything up.” Edward’s glare pierced through his father. “I suggest that if you want to come back to Winry’s house with us, you’ll not press the issue any further.” The eldest Elric brother then walked away.

* * *

  _He had just been reinstated as a State Alchemist. Winry was still in town after the incident with Barry the Chopper. Edward was feeling incredibly stressed since the incident, feeling powerless to do anything. He was lucky to have the small relief he did with eating the sweets he hid underneath his bed. It was easy enough at Hughes’ house with everyone being busy after Elysia being born._

_Ed had just finished eating the box of chocolate that he had hidden underneath his bed. Alphonse was in the other room with Elysia and Winry. Winry was cooing over the newborn baby and Alphonse was fascinated at the thought of something being born, like any boy his age would be. Gracia was with the two as well._

_Edward soon found himself vomiting the chocolate he had eaten into the toilet. The relief he was filled with satisfied him enough to get through the day. Just enough for the day; the coming days would be much harder._

_“Ed…?” Winry asked with wide eyes. “What are you doing to yourself?” the girl asked as she watched Edward hunched over a toilet with two fingers down his throat. “What are you doing?”_

_Ed thought she had been in the other room. He thought she was still marveling over how adorable the new baby was. He thought she wouldn’t see him like this._

_But she did._

_Winry saw Edward’s most inner darkest secret. Something not even Alphonse knew._

_And now she knew._

_“Winry, don’t tell…” Ed trailed off. “Please don’t tell, please don’t tell.”_

_“But, Ed…” Winry brought a hand to her mouth in shock. “You’re hurting yourself like this. You’re going to kill yourself.”_

_“I’m not doing it anymore,” Edward fibbed. “This was just something I read about. Some girls said it made them feel better in a dumb magazine. It was stupid; it didn’t work.” The lies were rolling off his tongue easier and easier these days._

_Whether Winry bought it or was in denial on what had happened, Ed didn’t know. He just knew that she had never told anyone, and he continued to go on with his dirty little secret._

* * *

“Ed?” Winry asked at the dinner table with a worried expression. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Edward responded. He realized he must have zoned out at the dinner table, being trapped in his own thoughts. With a glance around, he realized the others were looking at him as well. Because it was Alphonse’s first night home, he was being treated to a protein heavy meal, which would help him in his recovery. Hohenheim was there as well, along with Pinako and Winry, of course. “I was just thinking of how I would need to go back to Central soon. There’s some things I need to tie up with the colonel about my certification as a State Alchemist.”

“Are you going to resign?” Winry asked. “I mean, you don’t really have to be there anymore. You got Al’s body back.”

“I was thinking about maybe signing on for another couple of years,” Ed said. “Alphonse could stay here and I could go back and make some money to help with him. Being a State Alchemist was something I always was, maybe it’s what I’m meant to do.”

“Come on, Ed, that’s bull and you know it,” Winry said. “You’re not meant to do anything; you can do whatever you want with your life!”

“You just go talk to the colonel about it, brother,” Alphonse commented. “He’ll probably have some good advice; he’s been a really good role model for you.”

“I’m going to talk to him and see what happens,” Edward said. “And if I want to stay a State Alchemist, I will. If I don’t want to, I won’t. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m not very hungry.” Ed stood from the table, washing his dishes and putting them away. As he passed the table, he placed a hand on Alphonse’s shoulder. “You’ll get to bed all right?”

“Of course, brother; I’m not an invalid,” Al said. “Go to bed; I know you’ve had a long night.”

“Night, guys,” Ed said before he walked to the bathroom instead of his bedroom. He shared his bedroom with Alphonse, and no one even paid attention to how long he was in the bathroom or what he was doing in there anymore. Well, Hohenheim was becoming a bit of a nuisance, but no one had any proof that he was right about anything.

It didn’t take long for Edward to purge the little dinner he had eaten into the toilet and flush it, pretending to have gone to the bathroom. After that, he ran the sink, appearing to be washing his hands.

He pulled out a razor. 


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Edward didn’t wake up. At least not as early as he would’ve. Alphonse had gone to bed later, so he wasn’t awake either. He also had some healing to catch up on. Edward had gone to bed earlier than anyone else, though, and Hohenheim was starting to feel suspicious of Ed’s behavior. The man walked to the phone in the kitchen and dialed the number that was written down on a pad beside it. Hohenheim knew it was Colonel Mustang’s phone number. ****

  _“Colonel Mustang,”_ Roy answered.

 “This is Edward and Alphonse’s father. My son isn’t acting right and I wanted to know if you knew why. You two appeared close when we were in Central together,” Hohenheim said.

  _“You’re speaking of Edward, right? I’d hardly call us close, but I have known him since he was eleven. What do you mean by not acting right?”_ Roy asked.

 “He lied about going to the nurse’s station yesterday when he and I were visiting Alphonse, and at dinner last night he appeared to be zoned out,” Hohenheim explained.

  _“What happened at the hospital before he lied about the nurse’s station?”_ Roy asked with more of an idea of what was going on with the eldest Elric brother. He had briefly thought of it when Hohenheim said Ed wasn’t acting right, but the dinner was what concerned the colonel the most.

 “The three of us were sharing an apple pie that Winry had baked to celebrate Alphonse being all right,” Hohenheim said. “Does that have anything to do with it?”

  _“I’m getting on a train to Resembool right now. I’ll be there in a few days,”_ Roy said. _“That damn kid is getting himself in trouble again, and I won’t let it happen this time.”_

 “What are you talking about?” Hohenheim asked. “This sort of thing has happened before?”

  _“It’s not my place to tell you, but I’ll be there in a few days. Just keep an eye on him and see if anything changes,”_ Roy said before hanging up the phone.

 Hohenheim tried to do what Mustang had told him to. He tried to keep an eye on Edward, but the eldest Elric brother just seemed to disappear whenever Hohenheim wasn’t paying attention. The man had no idea how his son managed to do it, and it didn’t seem that anyone else had noticed.

 Eventually, the colonel showed up to the Rockbell residence, with all the harshness that a military officer contained.

 “Colonel? What are you doing here?” Alphonse asked when he opened the door. The man was just about to speak when he was interrupted.

 “Al!” Ed exclaimed. “You’re not supposed to be walking up and around just yet. You should be in bed!” He then noticed that the colonel was standing in the doorway. “Mustang? What are you doing here?”

 “ _You_ know damn well why I’m here, Elric,” the colonel said in a stern tone. “Tell me; how have you been _eating_ so far?” By this point, Mustang had made his way past Alphonse and into the Rockbell home. Winry, Pinako, and Hohenheim had also appeared at all the commotion, wanting to know what was going on.

 “I’ve been eating fine,” Ed fibbed. In truth, he had been continuing to hide his problem from his family the entire time with them truly believing he had gotten better.

 “Are you sure about that?” Mustang asked. “Would a doctor tell me that?”

 “A doctor would tell you that I’m fit as a fiddle!” Ed exclaimed.

 “Edward…” Winry trailed off. “You’re not doing it again, right?”

 “Would someone please tell me what ‘it’ is?” Hohenheim interrupted.

 “It’s none of your damn business!” Edward exclaimed, turning to Hohenheim. His cheeks were burning out of embarrassment from the situation. He didn’t want anyone to know what he was doing, but he _especially_ didn’t want _Hohenheim_ knowing.

 “Edward here has Bulimia,” Mustang said. “Tell me, Edward, did you actually get better for a while or have you just been hiding this the whole damn time?”

 “I’m not doing this again with you guys,” Ed said. “You’re not my legal guardian anymore, Mustang. I’m eighteen, and you can’t stick me in any more hospitals.”

 “Brother…” Alphonse trailed off. “Why do you keep doing this to yourself?” 

“I’m not doing anything to myself,” Edward fibbed once again. “Look, I just got Al’s body back and I’d like to celebrate a bit. I want to spend time with my brother, but if you guys want to keep accusing me of stuff I’m not doing, I’ll leave.”

“No, we don’t want you to leave!” Winry cried. “We want you to be healthy!”

“I _am_ healthy!” Ed exclaimed. “I’m healthy enough, so _drop it_!” With no more words, Edward stormed out of the room and found himself in the room he shared with Alphonse.

“Why is he doing this to himself?” Hohenheim asked when the eldest Elric brother was out of the room. “If he had done this before, there has to be a reason for it. There has to be a reason for it that’s still continuing to be a reason. This can’t just be because of Alphonse not having a body.”

“It’s not,” Alphonse said. “Brother told me a long time ago that it was about his emotions. About his own feelings, and the doctor told Mr. Hughes that he needs to learn how to deal with his own feelings instead of just taking it out on food.”

“What could he be feeling now?” Hohenheim asked.

“Well, he just lost his ability to perform Alchemy – I’d say that probably has a lot to do with it,” Mustang said. “If this is something he’s been hiding all this time, he probably felt guilt from what happened with the human transmutation, took it out on himself, then when he finally rectified that, he created a whole new problem so he continued doing this to himself.”

“How are we supposed to fix it this time?” Winry asked. “Like he said, he can’t go to the hospital anymore. He’s over eighteen, and he can only go if he wants to go.”

“We’ll just have to take the matter into our own hands,” Mustang said. “We’ll have to watch him carefully, make sure he doesn’t binge, and if he does, make sure he doesn’t purge.”

“We’ll also need to keep an eye on other forms of self-harm,” Hohenheim commented.

“What?” Alphonse asked.

“Your mother…” Hohenheim trailed off. “I never wanted to taint your memory of Trisha, but before she died, she did this as well. I was reminded of it when Edward begun to lie when we were in the hospital. She would purge after meals and such. I had noticed that she begun to take my straight razors to her arm when she could.”

“And you’re saying that Edward could do the same thing?” Mustang asked.

Hohenheim nodded. “He might’ve already resorted to that if this has been going on for years.”

“God dammit; I’ll kill that kid,” Mustang said before he stormed up to where he knew was Ed’s room. He remembered it from the times before that he had visited when the kid was having his automail tuned or sometimes even replaced.

“Edward!” Mustang barked when he walked into the room to see the kid sitting at his bed silently. “Show me your goddamn arm!” The blonde made no move to do so. “Show it to me!” Mustang jerked Ed’s arm and pulled the sleeve up to reveal the damage the younger had done to himself. “Oh my god…” The colonel had known there was a possibility that Edward had done this to himself, but he had truly been hoping that there was no damage. “Oh, Ed…”

“Shut up,” Edward said quietly. “You don’t even care.”

“What are you _talking_ about?” Mustang asked. “I was fucking _there_ when you were doing this before. I was _there_ when you needed someone after Hughes died. Whether or not you decided to come to me was not my fault.”

_“You lied to me!”_ Ed shouted. “You _lied_ about Hughes when he died! You tried to keep it a secret from me!”

“I was trying to _protect_ you!” Mustang shouted back.

“Well it _hurt_!” Edward glared down at his arm. “Hughes was the one who really wanted me to be better…”

“I wanted you to be better too,” Mustang said, calmer now that Ed’s voice had lowered. “I wanted you better and did what Hughes wanted me to in order to help you. He couldn’t sign you out of the hospital. He couldn’t do anything legally with you, but I did what he wanted because I thought it was the best thing for you.”

“Was it?” Ed asked.

“You tell me.” 


	13. Chapter 13

 “You’re taking him back to Central?” Hohenheim asked when Mustang had left Alphonse and Edward alone in their bedroom.

“Yes,” the colonel responded. “It’s the only way I know for him to get better. I need to try and get him to go to the hospital, and since there’s no such hospital for people like him in Resembool, I’m taking him to Central to get the help he needs.”

“Granny’s a doctor,” Winry argued. “We can take care of Ed.”

“And you’ve been doing a great job so far,” Mustang said sarcastically. “But I need to take him to someone who can actually recognize the symptoms of what he’s doing to himself.”

Winry sighed. “I know we didn’t notice; he just hid it so differently this time…”

“What do you mean _this time_?” Mustang asked. As far as he knew, Edward hadn’t been in Resembool with this condition until the present.

“I found out he was doing it when we were younger,” Winry admitted. “Well, I caught him in the act…”

“And you never said anything?” the colonel asked with a raised eyebrow.

“He told me he wouldn’t do it again; I didn’t think he would…” Winry trailed off.

“You knew he had done something like this and you never said a thing about it?” Mustang asked again, becoming more irritated at thinking this whole thing could’ve been prevented.

“He said that it was only once!” Winry exclaimed. “He said he wasn’t going to do it again, and I _believed_ him!”

“It’s all right; calm down,” Hohenheim said. The three were interrupted by Alphonse and Edward walking out of their room.

“You ready to get on the next train?” Mustang asked Edward. The blonde nodded quietly.

“You don’t have to go,” Winry said. “You can stay with us and get better.”

“I’ve already inconvenienced you and granny enough,” Ed said softly. “I’m not about to do it again.”

“Are you really going to get better this time?” Mustang asked. “You’re going to go to the hospital and allow them to actually treat you?”

“I…” Edward trailed off. “I didn’t really think me doing this was an issue when I was growing up…I think when I started…cutting myself I actually realized that there might be a problem.”

“ _Might_?” Hohenheim raised an eyebrow.

“Look, I’ve got issues. I need to deal with them and now that Al’s body is restored…” Edward trailed off. “Well, I guess I can finally deal with them.”

“I’m glad you’re getting help, brother,” Alphonse said quietly, wrapping a thin arm around Ed’s shoulders. “Brother…I would give this body up in a heartbeat if it meant that you were better.”

“Don’t say that,” Ed responded. “I went through a lot to get you that body. Take good care of it and I’ll be out of the hospital before you know it.” Edward then turned to Winry. “Winry…” he trailed off.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t say anything when I knew it was going on,” Winry said. “I’m so sorry, Edward.”

“Hey, that’s not your fault,” Ed said. “None of this is anyone’s fault. I kept what I was doing a secret so I wouldn’t have to disappoint you guys. I lied to all of you.”

“Well, now you’re going to get the help that you need,” Mustang said. “Come on, Edward; let’s go.”

After saying goodbye to everyone, the eldest Elric brother lifted his suitcase and walked out of the Rockbell home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaaah this is a bullshit quick ending. I'm sorry, guys; I've been so busy with school that I just had to find a place to end this story. Maybe I'll ad an epilogue in the future.


	14. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the line for Edward after he leaves Resembool for Central for his final treatment from Bulimia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I said the last chapter was the end, but I decided to write this piece to kind of conclude it. I'm thinking of writing a sequel, but the sequel would actually be about one of Ed's children (you can see the kids I gave him from 'It All Started with a Video Camera' on my FFN page 'Floofeymarshmallow').

“What about that bullshit you spat out when you were leaving Resembool?” Mustang asked as him and Edward sat outside the rehab center that the teenager – young man, Mustang had to remind himself – was now  _refusing_ to go inside of. ****

“It was exactly that. Bullshit,” Ed responded. He had put on a brave face for his family and friends, but now he wasn’t sure about this. After so many years of turning to his secret without anyone thinking he was still doing it, Edward wasn’t sure he _could_ return to normal life after that. Not after he had already been using this method of feeling for so long.

“Well, you’re going through with it,” Mustang said. “Hughes did not want you to be like this. He wanted you to be healthy, and you are going to honor his goddamn memory by going into that hospital and allowing yourself to be admitted like you should.”

“I don’t want to do that,” Ed said. “Hughes was….he was amazing, and he was really dedicated to me. I’m grateful for what he did when I was younger, and he gave me the determination to get Alphonse’s body back. I already honored his memory by getting Al’s body back. He didn’t die in vain or anything.”

“You didn’t honor his memory by pretending you were fine this entire time,” Mustang responded. He gripped Edward’s left arm, holding the limb up and pushing the blonde’s sleeve back to show the scars that littered the limb. “Do you see this? Do you think _this_ is what Hughes would want to see if he was still here?”

“Hughes wouldn’t suspect a thing if he was still here,” Edward said, yanking back his arm and covering it up with his sleeve. “Don’t you pretend you would have noticed if it wasn’t for Hohenheim. Apparently my mom had this thing, and I get that it’s genetic, but I don’t want to do this.”

“Do you want to end up like your mother did?” Mustang asked. “Your mother is dead. She died from what she was doing to herself, and if you don’t get better, you’re going to die too.”

“That’s fine.”

“ _No_ it’s _not_!” Mustang exclaimed. “If you die, what will happen to Alphonse?!”

“He has Winry now,” Edward said with a shrug. “And Hohenheim came back, so Al’s got him too.”

“No!” Mustang left the car, slamming the door behind him. He then walked to Ed’s side of the car, pulling it open and ripping Edward out of the car. “You are not going to die! I won’t let Hughes’ decision bite me in the ass!”

“You know damn well it was your decision too!” Ed exclaimed. “You didn’t want me in that hospital because it was feeding money from the military, and it looked bad that your child prodigy was in the hospital for something as girly and stupid as an _eating disorder_!”

Mustang stood back. He never even thought Edward would have assumed something like that.

“You’re no child prodigy if you can’t even figure out that I care for you,” Mustang said. “I’m the one who wanted you in that hospital in the first place. Hughes fought me tooth and nail to keep you out of there because he wanted you at home with family.”

“What?” Ed asked.

“I signed the papers to release you from the hospital because Hughes begged me,” the colonel explained. “He begged me to sign those papers, insisting you could handle the rest of your recovery with him. But you went home and you just stopped eating again.”

“I didn’t stop eating,” Edward protested. “I actually started eating a lot more…I just never kept it in.”

“If you won’t get better for yourself, get better for Hughes. He was the one who believed you could do it,” Mustang said. “I believed you could do it with a little help. Hughes really thought you could do it without the hospitals.”

“I…” Edward trailed off. “I think I’ll give the hospital a shot…Not for too long, though.”

“How long are you thinking?” Mustang asked. “The recommended stay is three months.”

“Well…I’ll stay for however long I please,” Ed said. “But I’ll try to make the program work for me.”

“Thank you,” Mustang said with a sigh of relief. Edward was going to do what he was supposed to do. The colonel walked the blonde into the building to be greeted by the doctor who had previously treated him years ago.

“Hello, Edward,” Doctor Warren greeted. “I’m glad you’ve decided to come and stay with us again. You know, usually people need to receive treatment twice.”

“We’ll see what works,” Ed said.

“Just come with me and we’ll get the paperwork filled out,” Doctor Warren said. “I’ll answer any questions you have before you sign the papers if you’d like. Are you coming in, Colonel?”

“If Edward wants me to stay here, I’ll stay here,” Mustang answered.

“Come,” Ed said. “I don’t really want to be without someone I know just yet.”

“All right,” Mustang said, and couldn’t help but feel a swell of joy when he knew Ed wanted him to be there for the signing of papers that would sign his life away for a few months.

 

After signing the papers and getting set up in the hospital, Ed found himself sitting in a room picking at his fingernails. He wasn’t in the same ward as he had been when he was younger. He was in the adult ward this time, which was a bit different than the children’s ward. The adults were allowed to be in their rooms without supervision whenever they wanted, and didn’t need to ask permission to use the phone. They also didn’t have to go through horrid group activities together unless they wanted to. There usually weren’t many group activities offered unless it was for therapy.

Edward was still feeling odd about the entire situation. He wasn’t really sure _how_ to feel after all this. He hadn’t been in the hospital in years, and he wasn’t even entirely open about the whole thing. He was honestly a bit worried about the hospital not letting him go, even if he completed treatment.

Ed thought about his friends and family, though. He knew he had to go through with whatever the hospital asked of him, no matter what. He had to do it, especially for Al. Alphonse only had him left, as far as family went, and Edward was determined not to end up like his mother.

He was also determined to do this for Hughes.

 

“Edward,” Doctor Warren said as she went over Ed’s charts the week later. “I think you’re showing tremendous progress,” she said. “Keep up the good work.” She then handed the charts over to a nurse. Edward didn’t need to ask what they said. Being in the adult ward, one of the perks was that the doctors would actually talk to you about what they would write about you in their charts. Ed knew his said that he had been eating and was limited to only a half hour after meals of observation.

Ed had been working the program like he had decided to, and it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t the weight gain that bothered Ed – not that he gained much weight; he was still allowed to exercise in the hospital. It was how he felt when he would eat food and not purge it. It brought back all the pain he had pushed back years ago. The never having a chance to mourn his mother, the guilt of eating when Al couldn’t, and taking _so_ long to get Al’s body back. Ed was finally able to feel these emotions.

And they weren’t all bad.

Ed was also able to feel the good emotions. The feeling of sharing his birthday with Elysia when Gracia brought a cake into the hospital after he had been admitted for a few weeks. The feeling of getting to share Winry’s apple pie with Alphonse without feeling the need to purge it afterward.

 

The feeling of getting to spend holidays and birthday parties with his wife and children long after being released from the hospital.

 

These were the things that Edward was able to feel again. 


End file.
